Roses
by inuyashaskitten56
Summary: It was exactly what she had been fearing. Not just from moments ago, but from the first night he didn't come home. All the nights he let her cry herself to sleep. For all the times when he didn't give a damn, this is how he repays her! Did I not tell you? Let us go. Back to her. Back to our mate. Let me take control. Just for tonight...
1. Chapter 1 Positive

A chill ran up her spine as the cold winter air drafted in through the open window in the bathroom. But the chill was not from the cold. It was anxiety as she intensely stared down at the pregnancy test in her hand, waiting for the result. A knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Are done in there yet?" Kagome yawned as she asked.

"Almost. I'll be out in a minute. Why don't you just use the downstairs bathroom?" Rin did anything to calm her voice and sound casual.

"Because Inuyasha is hogging that one and I _really _need to pee."

"Be out in a minute." Rin answered back.

There was one last bang on the door as Kagome turned and walked back into her room where she and Rin had spent the previous night together.

**One month previous...**

Rin was far from falling asleep once Kagome had given into her tiredness. Instead of laying down and welcoming sleep, she decided to take a look around Kagome's room. A television set, a dresser with a lamp on top with a broken bulb, an unmade bed, a small table, and a bedside stand with a jar filled with chocolate and hard candies.

Rin grabbed out a chocolate and plopped it in her mouth as she pulled open the top drawer of her dresser, finding only shirts. She pushed it closed and proceeded onto the second from the top. It was pants and underwear.

_Nothing here_, she thought to herself as she pushed it closed and opened the third. Bras and...condoms?

About one sixth of the drawer had a layer of unopened condoms…about 13 at a glance.

"Geeze," she whispered, picking one up and inspecting it. She shuddered as she read the small print on the back of how to use it. She placed it back in the drawer and tried to close it, only for it to catch on something in the back.

She pulled the drawer as far out as it would come without falling out of the dresser and saw three pink boxes. She reached for one and pulled out more than she bargained for. She read the instructions on the side and gasped, suddenly feeling sorry for her friend.

Was Kagome and Inuyasha trying to have a baby or...was it a precaution thing in case one of the condoms failed? Rin was confused out of her mind. What was Kagome doing with _three_ of these? How many had she already used?

Rin sighed and tiptoed to the bed, gracefully sitting down without a sound, hoping she had not woken her sleeping friend. She laid back and breathed in deeply, trying to comprehend what she just found.

She lay staring at the celling for half an hour thinking before she swiftly shot up and made her way back to the dresser and pulled out one of the tests and stuffed it in her bag. Why had she done it? It's not like her and Sesshomaru were...doing _that_ anymore.

She crawled back into her warm spot, her hand brushing over the bite mark Sesshomaru had left when he took her as his mate. She grimaced upon touching it and closed her eyes. Sleep could not come soon enough.

**Present...**

Kagome had invited her over for a sleepover saying that she needed a girl's night. Rin, of course, did not refuse her offer. She really needed a night off from the world, and Sesshomaru.

The few nights that Sesshomaru actually acted like he cared had been very sporadic, leaving Rin alone at their three-story house and sometimes even not returning for days at a time, claiming work had been extremely busy.

She knew it was a lie. But she did not want to admit it. Not to herself. Not to anyone. Instead, she kept quiet. All her feelings stayed locked up inside, waiting to explode like a bomb.

That bomb exploded when her eyes returned to the stick she held in front of her. Her worst nightmare had come true. And yet at the same time, her happiest fantasy also. The two pink lines confirmed it.

She was pregnant. With Sesshomaru's child.

She stood up from her place on the closed toilet, stumbling to the sink. She grabbed the edge of the counter and gripped it until her knuckles were white. All the while staring into the mirror with silent tears crawling down her cheeks.

She gasped for air and let out a high-pitched sob, letting go of the sink and stepping backwards until her back hit the wall. She sunk to the floor, dropping the test on the cold ground and placed both her hands over her mouth to stop any sounds that dared escape.

Kagome pounded on the door. "Are you done YET?!"

Rin couldn't answer if she wanted to. Her voice simply would not allow her.

"Rin?" Kagome's voice was accompanied by worry. "Rin, are you alright?"

Rin could hear Inuyasha running up the stairs. She let out another sob, barely audible, but loud enough for Inuyasha's sensitive ears to pick it up.

The door opened and Kagome rushed in, kneeling down beside Rin and grabbing her arm and putting one hand on her back.

Inuyasha kneeled down and grabbed the test Rin dropped. "Rin you're... You're pregnant." Inuyasha whispered in shock.

A loud sob came from the crying girl.

"Why are you crying, Rin? I thought you said that you and Sesshomaru were doing okay? Aren't you happy about this?" She asked.

"I- I... I'm beyond happy. A-and s-s-so sad, t-too." She sobbed again, her words unsteady with every breath she took.

"If you're happy, then why are you crying?" Kagome rubbed small circles on her back.

"B-because, I didn't t-tell y-you everything." She lifted her head to look at Kagome.

She instantly understood without needing to be told. Rin had been lying to her about Sesshomaru and her being happy. "Inuyasha, get some tissues and bring them to the living room." Kagome helped Rin to her feet and down the stairs to the couch.

Rin grabbed several tissues at once and wiped her eyes first, removing any makeup that still lingered.

"How are you going to tell Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked.

"No! I... I can't tell him." She composed herself as much as possible, given her red puffy eyes and the smell of salt that any demon would instantly recognize. And with all of the demons in high respect to Sesshomaru, they would grow tremendously suspicious of why his mate reeked of tears.

_No_, Inuyasha thought to himself, _she won't be leaving here until she washes that smell off her. Come to think of it, that would explain why her scent had changed. I merely though it was a new brand of body was or something along those lines. Not that she was pregnant._

"Kagome, can I talk to you for a sec?" Inuyasha called to his mate who nodded.

She patted Rin on the back a few more times just for good measure and walked to Inuyasha, who was standing in the kitchen just out of earshot.

"I need you to get her to tell you what happened between her and Sesshomaru. I will not allow her to leave until she does." Inuyasha demanded.

"Why? I mean, why won't you let her leave?" Kagome knit her brows together in confusion.

"Because, she reeks of tears, and if any demon were to smell her in this state, who do you think the first person they're going to ask is? And then, who do you think he is going to come looking for?" All his question were answered with a slight nod of her head.

"If she doesn't want him to know, then I suggest she stays here until she works up the courage to do so." He turned to walk away but a small hand grabbed his forearm before he could get away.

"Inuyasha," she whispered. "What if she never tells him?"

"Unlikely. She is his mate. His beast will drive him insane if she is not around." Inuyasha answered absentmindedly.

"Oh. So, what are we going to do?" She bit her lip.

"For now, just get her to tell you what happened. I'm going to stop by his work and ask _him_ what happened." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. He gave her a sad smile and left without another word.

Rin was sitting on the couch watching a commercial for pads when Kagome walked in and sat down beside her and clicked the T.V. off with the remote.

"I was watching that, you know." Rin held back any tears, bottling them inside like everything else.

"It's not like you're going to need them." She said sarcastically. "Rin...what happened? I thought you told me you two were happy."

Rin looked down at her feet, spelling out each color of each of her brightly painted toenails from the previous night in her head.

"Rin, please answer me. I can't help you if you don't."

Rin looked at her. Kagome's eyes were a soft brown like hers, questioning but not intruding.

"I didn't want to admit it. To anyone. Not even myself. After Sesshomaru took me as his mate, for the first few years we were happy...But after that he..._we_ stopped being around each other so often. And then it was just him. I tried to be around him. To...Love him like I had before. But...Then he was never around. He would come home late at night after I had already went to bed and would leave before I awoke. The only way I knew he had even been there was the water bottle he took before he leaves for work." She paused, reminiscing about him.

"He would take one every day and kiss me goodbye." Her eyes brimmed with tears and her voice cracked. "But then, sometimes he would not come home for days at a time. Sometimes even weeks. I knew why. But I never admitted it to myself. That... He didn't care for me anymore. I'm just some human who was a mild interest at the time that he got bored with." She sobbed but still, no tears fell.

Kagome reached up and tucked a tuft of hair behind Rin ear. "That's not true." She moved her hand down to her shoulder and pulled back the cloth that concealed the bite scar. "He marked you as his mate. That's something that is not taken lightly and he knows that better than anyone. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have marked you. I'm sure if you tell him this wonderful news it might just bring him around."

Rin shifted her gaze from the blank T.V. to Kagome with a slight hope in her eyes. "You think so?"

"I'm sure of it."

**...**

Inuyasha pulled his car into the above ground parking garage and parked in his personal parking space. He swiftly slid out of his brand new red Mustang and locked it with a push of a button. He walked toward the entrance across the street to the tall building formally known as Taisho Inc., named after their deceased father.

The door opened the second his foot stepped in the sensors range and he felt the warm air hit him instantly. He walked to the reception desk and waited for receptionist to get off the phone.

"Good morning Mr. Takahashi. Is there anything I can do for you?" Her voice was much too cheerful for the given situation he was being faced with.

"Is my brother free right now?"

She looked down at the computer to her right and typed a few thing on her keyboard before looking back up at him. "Yes. Is there anything I can get you? A coffee perhaps?"

"No, thank you. I will be fine." With that, he turned and hurried to the elevator, hoping to get a moment of solitude before he had to chew his brother out about being a bad husband to his sister-in-law. Fortunately, luck was on his side this particular day.

He stepped inside and pressed button 34. The doors closed, allowing him to enjoy the quiet ride to his brother's office.

The elevator jolted to a stop once it reached floor 34, the doors opening to reveal a quite boring scene. Nothing drew his attention besides the brightly colored outfit Sesshomaru's personal assistant, Kagura, was wearing and the strange all white outfit _her_ assistant, Kanna, was wearing.

He shrugged it off and turned down the hallway that led to Sesshomaru's office. He pushed open the door and saw Sesshomaru deeply focused on a paper in front of him.

"Yo, Sesshomaru." Inuyasha called to him.

"What do you want?" His tone was extremely inpatient.

"I came to talk to you about something." Inuyasha closed the door and walked to his desk, placing his hands on the back of one of the well-cushioned chairs sitting in front of the desk.

"Is there a problem in manufacturing?" He asked coldly, his eyes shifting from the paper to him.

"No. It's a bit more personal." Inuyasha sat down in the chair on the right, left of Sesshomaru.

"What do you mean personal? Have you come here to invite me to some get-together with the family? Not interested."

"And why would you say that? Is it because Rin might be there?" Inuyasha glared at his older brother.

Sesshomaru leaned back in his chair, deciding to change the subject. "So you _are_ asking me to a get-together?"

"No. It's hypothetical. Now answer the question. Would it be because of Rin?"

Sesshomaru contemplated the question for a moment. "You have no right to intrude on my personal affairs. Now, leave before I fire you."

"Fire me? Ooooo, touchy touchy. Looks like your beast is just itching to get some. You're doing a fine job of resisting, I'll admit that much." Inuyasha almost laughed at his own remark.

Sesshomaru glared with such intensity, as if willing him to catch fire. "Leave." His fist clenched tightly, nearly drawing blood.

Inuyasha stood and walked toward the door, stopping just before he went through. "If I were you Sesshomaru, I would may more attention to my mate." He slammed the door.

_My mate_, Sesshomaru thought. _What right does he have to involve Rin in this? _

**He is right about one thing. Actually several. But you are too stubborn to admit it.** Sesshomaru's beast growled within him.

_Silence!_

**Why? Because you refuse to let me meet your needs? You are a fool. You cannot contain me forever!**

_I can and I will. I will not let you touch her EVER again. As long as you continue to fight me, I will keep you away from her._

**You saw the look on her face when I touched her. You know she liked it. And I've seen the way her cheeks are stained by tears when you go to your home in the midst of the night. That is something even I wish to relieve her of. And you know you desire the same.**

_I will not let you near her again. Ever._

…**Several hours later…**

Kagome hung up her phone and pulled her car into Inuyasha's parking space in the above ground parking garage. She let herself out and waited for Rin to emerge from her titanium silver Porsche.

Rin had decided to tell Sesshomaru in the hope that it would change him for the better, if nothing but for the child she was carrying.

Kagome led her into Sesshomaru's work and waited at the reception desk on floor 34. A short woman dressed in all white sat at the desk, typing rapidly on a desktop.

"Is there something I can help you with?" She asked in a small voice.

"Ummm, no. I'm just waiting for someone." She answered, smiling at the woman whose name tag identified her as Kanna Onigumo.

"If you are waiting for Mr. Takahashi, he won't be leaving for another hour. He's busy right now."

"Busy? That's okay. I'm not waiting for him." Kagome sat down in one of the chairs lined against the wall that slightly reminded her of a doctor's office…minus the doctors.

_As soon as he sees her, he'll stop whatever he's doing and make time for her, and if he doesn't and she comes back to me in tears, so help me I will drop kick him into next century, _Kagome mused to herself.

**...**

Rin walked down the hallway that lead to her husband's office. It was eerily quiet until she got close to the door. The door was slightly open, just enough that she could look through without being noticed.

The sound coming from beyond the door was breaking her heart with every moan that escaped the female's lips. Every grunt that escaped his. Every time she heard skin make contact with skin…

The tears were already streaming down her face as she looked through the door, if nothing but to confirm what she was hearing.

It was exactly what she had been fearing. Not just from moments ago, but from the first night he didn't come home. All the nights he let her cry herself to sleep. For all the times when he didn't give a damn, this is how he repays her?! By screwing his assistant in his office when he knows he should be leaving to come home to her. To his wife and unborn child.

He saw a glimmer of light in the small opening of his door. He could have sworn... Nothing.

As quick as he saw it, it was gone. He inhaled deeply, the smell of salt hitting him hard.

_Must be sweat, _he thought, keeping his pace steady. He smelled her sickening scent of vanilla perfume.

**Our mate never wore perfume.**

Sesshomaru ignored his beast in favor of focusing on what was happening beneath him.

**You cannot ignore me. I know your every thought. I know you want this to be Rin more than anything. I know you want her. I know how you feel about her. This disgusting excuse to try and please me is sickening. I only want HER! THE ONE WE MARKED AS OURS! YOU ARE DEPRIVING US OF THAT RIGHT! WE NEED HER WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT! You do not love this woman as you love Rin. That is the only truth!**

Sesshomaru was having trouble concentrating and was losing interest faster than he would like to admit.

"Is something the matter?" Kagura looked up at him.

Sesshomaru pulled himself out of her and put himself away. "Leave."

"What? But you haven't finished. There is something bothering you."

"I said leave. NOW." He commanded.

She quickly gathered her clothes and hastily put them on. She walked out of his office without another word, to his relief. The sound of her voice made him want to hurl.

**Did I not tell you? Let us go. Back to her. Back to our mate. Let me take control. Just for tonight...**

**...**

Rin sat down in the passenger seat of Kagome's car and allowed the tears to fall. There was no restraint. There was no silence. Just the pain in her chest that seemed to consume her entire being.

Kagome sat down in the car and placed her arm over Rin, pulling her into a hug and allowing her to cry. They stayed like that until Rin had settled down a bit.

"What happened in there, Rin?" Kagome asked, the worry was obvious in her voice.

"H-he was, he w-was," She gasped for air after each word. "He's n-not c-coming home to-night."

"What did he do?" Kagome looked Rin in the eyes.

"His assistant." Another wave of tears enveloped her.

Kagome's eyes grew three time their original size. She sat frozen in shock.

"J-just take me h-home." Rin pleaded.

"To your house? Are you sure?" Kagome asked absently.

Rin nodded and Kagome turned the car on and let it sit for a moment before she backed out of the parking space and drove off.

**...**

Rin put the last of her desired belongings in her suitcase and zipped it up. She turned around to see Kagome looking at the array of things Rin had chosen to leave on the dresser for him to find the next time he came home.

Rin's wedding ring, a broach he gave her on their 3rd anniversary, and a note held closed by the weight of the ring.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?" Kagome placed her hand on Rin's shoulder.

Rin turned to look at Kagome and nodded. She was unable to speak. It was as if she had once again become mute. Unable to express her loneliness and she doubted she would ever find another man like Sesshomaru who could make her open up again.

She pulled the black leather suitcase out to Kagome's car and put it in the backseat. She turned around to look at the house that she had called home for the last five years of her life. Now completely unable to call it anything.

She pulled the car door closed and waited for Kagome to get in.

"You will be staying with me and Inuyasha, right?" She asked.

Rin shook her head.

"Then where?"

Rin grabbed out a pen and notebook she had packed specifically for this reason. She wrote, _take me to Jakotsu's place. That will be the last place he will think to look._

Kagome grimaced and nodded, once again backing out and driving to her destination.

**...**

Sesshomaru pulled his car into the driveway of his house and hastily turned the engine off and slid out of his royal blue Bentley.

He opened the door and was instantly refreshed with a breeze of Rin's scent, noticing it was slightly different. He took a deep breath in and realized she was not there.

_She's probably still at Inuyasha's and Kagome's place. She should be back anytime n-_

His thoughts were cut short when he saw the note Rin had left.

He hesitantly picked it up and unfolded it, reading its contents slowly:

_Sesshomaru,_

_ I'm so sorry it had to come to this. I didn't want to leave you. I never wanted to leave. I love you. With all of my heart and all of my soul. But I suppose the feeling wasn't mutual. Maybe you never came home. I never got to see you anyway, so why should it matter that I got to see you today? With your assistant. You are a demon and I should have known this would happen. Demons like yourself are incapable of loving a human. You didn't even notice I was there. I thought you would have smelled me or at least the tears. Inuyasha could all the way from downstairs this morning. I was so happy and sad at that moment and I had no one to go to. But Kagome convinced me to go and tell you. It was something that would have changed both our lives. But you were too busy for me. So I can't be with you anymore if you can't even make time for your wife and some else that would have been even more important than myself. I will always love you. And please, don't forget me._

_~Rin_

He dropped the note on the floor in absolute shock.

**Someone more important?! She has left!? This is unacceptable! You will find her or **_**I will**_**!**

Sesshomaru picked up the wedding ring and looked down at the one on his hand. His heart rate increased and his breathing became uneven. His nose felt like it was being repeatedly poked by needles and his eyes watered in response. His mouth hung slightly open only letting on a few words escape…

"This cannot be…"

He balled up his fist with her wedding ring inside. Suddenly gravity became too much and he dropped to his knees, letting the weight of all of his mistakes bear down on him.

His claws grew longer and his fangs dripped venom onto the polished wood floor, burning holes into it. His eyes flashed red as his inner demon was clawing to the surface.

His rage and sorrow pushed him up to his feet and to the phone, dialing his personal assistants, Jaken, number.

"Mr. Sesshomaru? What can I do for you?" His squeaky voice stung over the phone.

"Rin is gone!" He growled. "You will help me find her if you value your life." He slammed the phone down and stormed out of the house, sniffing the air, letting his demonically enhanced sense of smell find her.

_She was here not too long ago. Fifteen minutes ago perhaps? _

**Fifteen minutes?! We missed her by FIFTEEN MINUTES?! That half demon brother of ours will pay dearly if he had ANY part in this.**

**...**

Kagome pulled into Jakotsu's driveway and let Rin get her belongings and herself out of the car. They embraced, neither of them willing to let any more tears be shed that night.

"Please Rin, contact me once you've settled everything." She gave a sad smiled and kissed her forehead.

She nodded and headed for the door as Kagome went for her car. She turned the key and the car purred to life.  
>Kagome pulled out of the driveway as Jakotsu answered the door.<p>

"Rinkotsu, darling! What brings you here?" He called her by a nickname he had come up when they were younger.

She shook her head, her eyes downcast and constantly on the floor. She silently walked in and sat herself down on the zebra print sofa in his living room.

"Rin, honey, what's the matter? You look so sad. Did something happen?" Jakotsu sat beside her and put his arm around her back.

Rin scribbled a few words on her notebook that read: _I'm pregnant and I need you to help me get as far away from Sesshomaru as possible, _and showed it to him.

"Oh sweetie. That's wonderful, but...I don't understand...You're pregnant and you're leaving him?"

She nodded.

"Can you speak at least?"

She shook her head slowly.

He pulled her into a tight hug, "Oh Rin, what has the monster done to you?" He half pouted. He held her for a moment longer before pulling back and looking her directly in the eye. "I'll help with whatever you need."

Rin nodded and forced a sad smile.

"What do you need me to do?"

She scratched her pen against the paper. _Is there anything you can do about my scent? It will be the first thing he looks for. And my appearance. If he sees me at all, he'll kill me._

He grimaced at her note and nodded. He quickly stood up and gestured for Rin to follow him up the stairs of his house. He went into his room and to his dresser with a locked side drawer.

He pulled a key out of the pocket of his skinny jeans and unlocked to drawer. He reached in and slowly pulled out a gold butterfly pendant.

"This will help with the scent. I got this on my last trip to America. It cost me a fortune, but I always knew it would be of use to me one day. But never for this..." He unclasped the fine silver chain and put it around her neck.

Her scent instantly changed form cherry blossoms and fresh dew to a musky Jasmine. Although it would be virtually unnoticeable until she actually came into contact with a demon.

"As for the appearance, I can give you a makeover or..." His voice faded.

Rin gave him a questioning look as if to say, _what?_

"You could stay at my brother's vacation home in the mountains. He never uses it anyways and since you want to get far away...That way you wouldn't have to worry about being recognized. Of course, if you don't want to go, you don't have to. It was only a suggestion." He added quickly if nothing but to justify his suggestion of her leaving.

Rin hesitated only for a second before nodding her head vigorously.

"You want to go?"

She nodded again.

"Do you want me to come with and get you comfortable? Like showing you around the town and help you getting your things moved in?" he asked.

Rin nodded and gave a halfhearted smile.

"Do you want to stay the night here or do you have a place?" He cocked his head to the side.

Rin shook her head.

"You don't have a place to stay?"

She shook again.

"So you're staying here for the night then?"

She shook again.

"So...then what?"

She scribbled on the notebook one last time. _I want you to take me tonight._

"Are you sure?"

She nodded and walked out the door without another word.

**...**

Sesshomaru had managed to calm himself before getting in his car and driving to Inuyasha and Kagome's house. He slammed the door of his car and marched up the door and, without knocking, forced the door open to find Inuyasha standing in the kitchen snacking on a small sandwich.

Inuyasha quickly averted his eyes from the small television on the counter to Sesshomaru snarling in the entrance. "You better have a good explanation as to why you just broke my door." Inuyasha was casual as ever, only infuriating Sesshomaru more.

"Where is she?!" Sesshomaru growled, his voice edged with threat.

"Where is who?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

"Do not lie to me. I can smell her all over this place. Where is she?" He snarled.

"Well maybe if you paid more attention to your mate, you would know why her scent is here." He paused, fully enjoying the moment. "She stays here sometimes. Like last night."

"What is that supposed to mean? You think I do not keep an eye on her?!"

"No. I mean you don't pay attention to her. Like, you're never around. Ever. At least that's what Rin told Kagome." Inuyasha retorted.

"I am around." Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed.

"Psh, yeah, in the middle of the night." Inuyasha crossed his arms.

Sesshomaru growled defensively.

"I don't understand why you're so upset." Inuyasha looked down at the sandwich in his hand and took another bite, chewing it slowly.

"Why is that?"

"Kagome called me about an hour ago and told me that she and Rin were going to tell you. She called me just before they parked and said that she was super excited about how she thought you might react to it." Inuyasha sighed.

"She was...at my office...about an hour ago?" Sesshomaru gasped, thinking back to what he had been doing an hour prior.

"What?" Inuyasha raised an eyebrow.

Sesshomaru glared at him. He closed his eyes, not wanting to think about his assistant at the moment. "What was she coming to tell me?"

"So you're telling me she never made it to your office?"

"Answer me." Sesshomaru growled.

"I don't know... I'm not sure if I should be the one to tell you..." Inuyasha hesitated.

Sesshomaru grabbed him by the collar and lifted him close to his chest, pure anger filling his eyes. "Tell me now, unless you want your head rolling on the floor!" he threatened.

"If she didn't tell you herself, she probably doesn't want you to know." Inuyasha pushed him back.

"Know WHAT?!" Sesshomaru yelled.

Kagome ran in the room as he yelled.

"Why you!" Kagome punched him hard with her right hook before he could react, and for her only being human and him a demon, she was frighteningly fast. He was about to attack her if Inuyasha hadn't held him back.

"How could you do this to her!?" She screamed, tears brimming in her eyes.

Sesshomaru struggled in Inuyasha's grasp. "Let go of me, _half demon!"_

"Not until both of you calm down!" Inuyasha yelled. Sesshomaru stopped struggling and Kagome took a deep breath. He released Sesshomaru and stepped over to Kagome.

"Sesshomaru says that Rin never made it to his office. Is that true?" Inuyasha asked her.

"She went down the hallway to his office. I thought she went in... She came back in tears begging me not to go in and beat him to a pulp. She told me once we were in that car what you were doing, you betraying bastard! How could you do that to her?!" She cried.

Sesshomaru's beast was fighting to the surface; it wasn't helping that he was being forced to remember Kagura. His eyes flashed red and his claws dripped acid.

"Both of you calm down!" Inuyasha yelled.

"What was she coming to tell me?" Sesshomaru demanded.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha who shook his head 'no.'

"He has a right to know," she whispered.

"If she didn't tell him, then he doesn't _need_ to know," he challenged.

Sesshomaru watched them bicker back and forth, deciding to let them discuss whatever it was amongst themselves. And if they decided against telling him, he would simply kill one of them.

He was yanked from his thoughts as Kagome put her hand over Inuyasha mouth and stepped forward.

**She made a wise choice.**

"Sesshomaru. You might want to take a seat before I tell you," she grimaced.

"Against my better judgment." Inuyasha muttered.

She whipped around to him, "Quiet, before I make you S.I.T." She spelled out the word slowly.

"I _will _stay where I am and you _will _tell me." Sesshomaru proclaimed.

"Alright." She sighed. "Rin is...Well, she's...Oh, how do I say this?" She turned to Inuyasha for help.

He huffed and glared at the wall. "Your mate is pregnant."

The wind was knocked out of him. He could no longer seem to breathe in air. His eyes burned as they were five times larger than normal and his chest felt like somebody had punched a hole through him.

_She is...pregnant?_

**Our mate is carrying a pup and she dares to leave us?! This is your fault for bedding that demoness. Had you listened to me, she would be with us.**

_No. This is your fault for getting her that way!_

**But **_**I**_** know that is what you longed for. A child of your own. With our mate. She is carrying our pup. I will **_**not**_** rest until she is safe with us. So, unless you favor being tormented by me, I suggest you begin your search for what is ours.**

"Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha stared him in the eyes, as his expression remained blank and focused on something that was not happening in this world.

His gaze suddenly snapped back to reality and landed on Inuyasha. "You will help me find her." It was more of a command than a plea.

Kagome flinched. She knew where Rin was. Even at that very moment, she knew where she was.

Sesshomaru noticed her flinch and glared at her suspiciously. "You know where she is," he stated.

Kagome hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"You will take me to her." He growled.

"I can't. I won't." She stood her ground.

"You **will** take me to her or I **will **kill you." It was no longer Sesshomaru talking. His inner demon had seeped into his conscious and was talking for him, taking matters into his own claws.

Kagome flinched again and looked at Inuyasha for help.

"Against my better judgment," he said again and crossed his arms, refusing to assist his mate.

Kagome sighed and turned for the door and Sesshomaru followed closely behind.

**...**

Rin sat down in her seat, waiting for the plane to leave the ground behind, like she wished she could do with the world.

Jakotsu sat down in the seat beside her and looked out the window beside Rin. It was dark and the light from the city was glowing through the late night fog.

"It's going to be okay. I promise." He placed his hand on hers and rubbed it back and forth.

She grimaced and looked out the window as the engine from the plane roared to life.


	2. Chapter 2 Vanished

Sesshomaru turned off the car and swiftly stepped out, already walking hastily for the door of Jakotsu's house.

Kagome rushed to catch up, but Sesshomaru had already broken down the door before she could even make it up the steps of the porch.

"Jakotsu! Are you here?" Kagome called out to him.

Silence.

"If he has taken her somewhere, I will kill him." Sesshomaru growled.

"Calm down. He always leaves a note for his brothers. Just look around and see if you can find it." Kagome said as she began to search the living room.

Sesshomaru walked into the kitchen and immediately noticed a pink slip of paper held to the refrigerator with a magnet. He pulled it off and read it silently,

_Bonkotsu,_

_ Rin showed up and wanted me to take her to your vacation house. She's pregnant! And apparently, Sesshomaru did something terrible to the poor girl. I went with her and should be back in about a week. Keep my bed warm for me would ya? ;) Call me._

_-Jakotsu_

Sesshomaru growled and tossed the note onto the counter. He had had more than enough notes for one day. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jaken's number.

"H-hello?" Jaken stuttered from the other end.

"Find out where Bonkotsu's vacation house is immediately." He commanded.

"Yes. Right away."

He ended the call and slipped the phone back into his blazer pocket. He went back into the living room where Kagome was still searching for the note.

She snapped her head up when she heard him enter the room. "Did you find it?"

"What is Jakotsu's phone number?" He asked, ignoring her question.

"I'll take that as a yes." She put her hands on her hips, annoyed. "Here." She held out her phone so that he could see the number. Instead, he just grabbed the phone and pressed the call button before she had time to protest.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. "The number you are trying to reach is currently off or out of dialing range. Please try again later." _

Sesshomaru threw the phone to the ground. "Dammit!" He snarled.

"Calm down. You don't need to freak. You could have just broken my phone, you know that!?" Kagome retorted.

"You don't understand! I missed her by fifteen minutes and now she's gone!" His expression became ever so slightly saddened.

Kagome grimaced upon seeing his hurt expression. "Sesshomaru. It's okay, we're going to find her. I promise."

**...Five hours later...**

"Rin." Jakotsu grabbed her shoulder and shook her gently. "Rin, wake up. We're here."

Her eyes opened slowly and for a moment she was confused as to why she had not woken up in her bed in her house. The blue glow of the early morning blinded her for a moment, then all the memories of the past day came flooding back, making her sigh in response and blink her eyes several times.

She stood up and followed everyone else off the plane and into the extremely overcrowded airport. She followed Jakotsu to the conveyer belt that had everyone's luggage flowing out of the concealed portion that connected to the plane.

He grabbed his sky blue suitcase and her black one and pulled them both outside where they were greeted by a taxi. He pulled the door open for Rin and put the luggage in the trunk. Once the driver sat down and Jakotsu closed his door, he handed him some money and gave him the directions. While the taxi drove Rin leaned herself against his shoulder and nodded out.

"Jet lag?" The taxi driver asked upon seeing her sleeping.

"Yeah. It's been a rough day for her." Jakotsu sighed.

"Sorry to hear it. So where ya'll comin' from?" He asked.

"Tokyo. What's your name? I'm Jakotsu."

"The name's Totosai. That sounds like one hell of a day, comin' all the way from Tokyo." He laughed.

"Yeah. First she finds out that she's pregnant and then the father of her child does something terrible to her." Jakotsu petted her hair with his left hand.

"I don't mean to sound like I'm intruding but, what did he do to her?" He looked at Jakotsu through the rear view mirror.

"It's quite alright." He paused. "I...don't know what he did to her... She hasn't spoken since she was dropped off at my house." He rubbed his hand down her arm, his nail catching on the fabric of her sleeve and pulling it slightly off her shoulder, revealing the bite mark on her neck.

"Is that a bite mark?" Totosai asked.

"Yeah. She's mated to a demon." He touched the mark and she flinched making him immediately pull his hand away and resume petting her hair.

"A demon? What kind of demon?"

"Dog. He's the current owner of Taisho Inc. Sesshomaru Takahashi. Heard of him?"

"Heard of him? Ha! I was one of his father's best friends back in the day. I've known him since he was just a pup!" Totosai laughed.

"Wow. I met the guy once. I wondered why would she want to be mated to _this guy?_" Jakotsu restrained a chuckle in fear of waking Rin.

"Yeah. I heard that he saved her life. Although I never thought he would mate a human. Last time I met him he seemed to hate them." Totosai pondered the thought.

"When they first got together they seemed really happy. They would almost never be separated. After a while though... he seemed to never be around."

"If I know him like I think I do, then I'd say he wanted to protect her." Totosai suggested.

"Hmmm... Maybe. Who knows what goes on through his mind?" Jakotsu ended the conversation, not wanting to venture further into the possibilities of why Sesshomaru had been acting the way he had and what he was thinking.

About ten minutes later the taxi pulled into the gravel drive way of Bonkotsu's vacation house. It was a large wooden Japanese style house overlooking a lake.

"Rin, wake up. We're here." Jakotsu nudged her.

She half-opened her eyes and got out of the car still half asleep. Jakotsu helped her inside and to the bedroom before he unpacked the luggage they had brought with them.

He and Totosai exchanged farewells immediately after.

"You come pick me up in a week?" Jakotsu asked.

"No problem. See ya'." He turned on the yellow car and pulled out of the driveway.

Jakotsu went back into the house and walked up the stairs to the first bedroom on the left, into the bedroom where Rin was sitting on the bed blankly looking out the window at the forest. "I'm going to get some food from the store in town, alright?"

She nodded without turning, not even completely sure what she was agreeing to.

Jakotsu sighed and left.

Rin layed back in the bed, desperately wishing she were back home in her bed with her pillows. She closed her eyes and once again succumbed to sleep.

**...**

_Sesshomaru pulled up in his driveway earlier than he would have liked. He did not want to be around Rin in fear that he may not be able to control himself. He longed for her embrace. For her touch. But when he got it, it felt like her couldn't protect her. He could protect her from the world. But not from himself._

_ He opened the door to find Rin sitting on the couch watching America's Next Top Model. She was wearing a thin pink nightgown._

_ Since when does she like that show? he thought to himself._

_ She turned around and flashed a bright smile upon seeing him. He couldn't help but give her a small one in return._

_ She stood up and made her way over to him and hugged him lightly before pulling away. "Dinner is in the fridge if you want some. I made the kind you like." She smiled again._

_ She made the food I like, not even knowing if I would be here to eat it, he thought._

_ He sighed and began walking toward the kitchen when he caught a familiar scent, stopping him in his tracks._

_ Rin is in heat, his mind echoed._

_ He shuddered at the intoxicating scent._

_**Rrriiinnnnn**__, his demon growled, wanting her with more and more with every breath he took._

_ He turned to look at her. She was already sitting on the couch, but was looking at him with a longing hiding deep within her eyes._

_ His eyes slowly changed from their usual amber to a deep crimson red, his teeth longer and sharper than normal, were pushing him to take her. His claws were digging into his palms drawing blood and dripping to the floor in his futile effort to restrain himself._

_ Rin stood up upon seeing him lose control of his own demonic power. She stepped lightly, knowing that if she made the wrong move it would be over for her._

_ She misunderstood. He wanted her. Wanted her so bad he could not retain his demon. _

_**"Rinnnnn," **__His demon purred, propelling him forward and taking her into his arms._

_ She bared her neck to him, the act of complete submission._

_ He buried his face into her neck, breathing in deeply, allowing himself to take in as much as he could handle. He ran his now pointed teeth over her silky skin just wanting to sink his teeth into her neck so badly. To remark her._

_ His teeth brushed against the mark he had already given her, making her shiver in response. That action pushed him over the edge._

_ He picked her up bridal style, she let out a squeak of surprise and giggled. He pushed open their bedroom door with his back. _

_ Oh, how long it had been since they had both been in this room together…_

_**Far too long…**_

_He layed her down on the bed and stood beside it, leaning over her with one knee resting on the edge. He could smell her arousal and…a touch of fear._

_ He crashed his lips against hers, kissing her as much as he could before he would have to release her so she could breathe._

_ She wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back with all she had._

_ He moved, leaving a trail of kisses down her jawline and down to her neck._

_ She was gasping for air when he released his hold of her lips. She ran her fingers through his hair, letting it become like a curtain as it draped around them._

_ "Sesshomaru…," she whispered as he continued to kiss her neck._

_ He growled to let her know he was listening._

_ "Why...now?" she breathed._

_ He stopped for a moment and looked her in the eye, his expression softening as her looked at her. "Because I...cannot...control..." He captured her lips again, unknowing of how he should finish his answer._

_ "Sesshomaru," she whispered again._

_ He moved his hand down her chest and squeezed her breast. She moaned as he did._

_ "Take me. Please," she whimpered._

_ He moved one arm under her back to lift her further onto the bed. As he climbed above her, he ripped off his shirt and threw it unceremoniously to the floor._

_ He moved his hand up her inner thigh and gently rubbed his hand against the fabric that separated them from touching, feeling the moisture dampening the cloth. She moaned again and he groaned with anticipation._

_ He used his claws to slice through the nightgown she had on to expose her nude figure to him. He layed down a trail of kisses leading from her neck to her breast. He sucked on her right while his fingers flicked the other gently._

_ He switched and pressed himself against her._

_ His warm breath against her skin gave her goose bumps. She shivered and moaned louder than before._

_ "Sesshomaru, please," she whimpered. "Please, take me."_

_ He didn't need her to repeat. He kissed her once more on the lips before finally discarding his pants and tossing them aside._

_ He pulled her panties off, careful not to ruin anymore clothing on her with his claws than he already had._

_ He positioned himself inches above her, deciding that he would not make her wait any longer than she already had. He pushed himself in her slowly the first time, allowing her to adjust to his size before pulling out and thrusting back in hard._

_ She wailed in pure bliss as he found a steady pace but was never consistent on how hard he would go in._

_ "Sessh-o-mar-uuuuu," she moaned in between his hard thrusting._

_ He kissed her deeply. She could feel the pressure building in her stomach and knew it was only a matter of time._

_ He brought her body close to his and kissed her neck roughly._

_ She screamed out when she hit her climax, but Sesshomaru was far from done. It had been too long and he wasn't going to waste a single moment._

_ He pulled out of her and flipped her over, entering her from that angle gave him more access to her. He wrapped both his hand around her slim waist and pounded himself into her, making her cry out again._

_ She gripped the sheets and he gritted his teeth knowing he was coming close to his climax._

_ With one final thrust, he hit his climax and released inside her. He bit down on the mark he had already given her, creating the perfect mixture of pain and pleasure. He sucked the wound clean, her blood an aphrodisiac in his mouth. She collapsed onto the bed and he cradled her in his arms, knowing she was far beyond exhausted._

_ "One final thing," his inner demon urged him to say that he had no objections to. "Whatever this Sesshomaru does, we will always love you." He whispered into her ear so quietly, she wondered if he had truly said it._

_ "I love you, Sesshomaru." She forced her eyes to open and look into his now amber ones._

_ "As I love you, Rin." He kissed her once more and laid her down, covering her with the blankets._

_ He lay beside her until she was asleep before he slipped out of the bed and into the night..._

"Mr. Takahashi?" A soft feminine voice called his name. Kanna stood in the doorway to his office, her expression not the least bit concerned that he had not been answering her the first few times she called his name.

"What?" Sesshomaru snapped, looking up from the file on his desk to glare at her.

"I'm going home." She stared at him blankly, almost as if she was in a world of her own, much like he was only moments ago.

"Fine." He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index fingers, trying desperately to not think about the memory his beast refused to let him forget. The night he got Rin pregnant. And to say that it was not a pleasant memory would be a lie, but unfortunately for him, he needed to concentrate on his work. All the flights even remotely close to where Rin allegedly was were canceled due to severe winter storms and driving was out of the question; all of the roads were blocked by snow and ice.

She closed the door and took a step toward the elevator before remembering something Kagura wanted her to ask him. She turned and peered in through the door again at Sesshomaru who had not changed position. She opened her mouth to speak when Sesshomaru cut her off.

"What do you want? I thought I already dismissed you," he growled.

"You did, but I remembered Kagura wanted me to ask you something." Her voice showed no indication of fear of his sudden outburst.

Sesshomaru snarled at her name. _She_ was the main reason Rin had left.

**No. You are.**

_Silence!_

"What did she want?"

"She wants a month off work."

"Hn." Sesshomaru grunted and stood from his chair.

"She had already left, Mr. Takahashi." Kanna whispered.

"Good. She is fired." He closed the manila file folder one his desk and tossed his pen in a drawer with other various writing tools. "Leave me."

She nodded, slightly shocked, and left. She pulled out her phone and called her now unemployed sister.

"Kagura."

"What?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I asked him," she murmured.

"And? He said yes, right?"

"He fired you." She laughed inwardly, pressing the button to summon the elevator.

"He WHAT?!" She shouted through the phone, causing Kanna to slightly pull it away from her head, allowing Kagura to scream all she liked without injuring her ear.

She waited until she was finished ranting before asking another question. "You mean you did not expect this? His mate is pregnant and you were his mistress. Feel lucky that he does not kill you." She stepped into the empty elevator. It was well after two in the morning and she wondered why she had stayed so long finishing a document that wasn't even due until next week.

"No. I expected this. I'm not as stupid as you would like to believe," she huffed.

"So what will you do?" Kanna asked.

"It's simple. I'll kill her."

"How will that do any good?" Kanna asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

"Stupid." Kagura muttered.

"You have a plan? Do tell." Kanna said mischievously.

"By killing her, their pup will die in the process." Kagura smirked.

Kanna paused, thinking of how her boss would react if he found out Kagura was responsible for his mate's and pup's deaths. "How will that help matters?"

"After his pup is dead, he will still want a child, no matter what. And I will be the one to carry that child."

"I don't see how killing them will, in any way, persuade him to conceive a child with you." Kanna felt herself gag at the thought of her sister having a child with her boss.

"I won't kill her directly. I'm going to call in a favor from our brothers. You know how they love it when I give them a job."

"You're acting without telling Naraku? He will be furious." Kanna whispered.

"I leave that to you." Kagura ordered more than asked.

The line went dead as the doors of the elevator opened.

**...The next morning...**

Rin sprang out of her bed as a wave of nausea hit her. She knelt over the toilet and puked until there was nothing left to come out.

Jakotsu sprinted up the stairs to Rin's bedroom to find her sitting by the toilet. He stepped to her and knelt down beside her and handed her a paper towel as another wave of dry heaves hit.

She wiped her mouth off and sat down on the closed toilet and cried; Jakotsu holding her hand the entire time.

"It's going to be okay. You will survive without him. If it takes me staying here longer than a week, if it means helping you, then so be it." He gave her a sad smile.

Rin nodded and stood up, stumbling to the sink to wash her mouth out. She looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. What had she become? She was not weak! But yet here she was, crying because her husband cheated on her with some demoness while she was pregnant. Or maybe it was solely _because_ she was pregnant.

"You should get a bath. It will help you relax." Jakotsu suggested.

Rin nodded and grabbed a purple tank-top and grey sweatpants with underwear and a bra. She shooed him out of her room and prepared herself for a bath.

She undressed and lowered herself into the tub, letting the warm water envelop her. She closed her eyes and for once in a very long time, relaxed.

**...**

Kagura dialed Hakudoshi's cell number and put the phone to her ear.

"Kagura. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Hakudoshi's voice was soft and smug.

"Save it. I need you to do something for me." Kagura said bluntly.

"Ahh. A job? This sounds interesting. So, who do you want me to knock off today, my dear sister?" he asked sarcastically.

"Sesshomaru's mate. She pregnant with his pup." She spat in distain.

"Do you desire me dead, Kagura? You know as well as I that if she is carrying his pup, he will not leave her side. I'm sure you are aware of this."

"No. She has ran away and he doesn't know where she is." Kagura smirked.

"This is getting interesting... How do you suppose I find her if _he _couldn't?"

"Simple. I know where she is."

"You sneaky rat." He laughed sinisterly.

"I'm the wind, you moron. Anyway, she is at Bonkotsu's vacation house in the northern mountains."

"And you called me because I'm already close by, eh?" he concluded.

"Yeah. The sooner, the better." She hung up and inhaled deeply, satisfied that it would only be a matter of time before Sesshomaru's mate and pup were killed and announced on the news.

She would make sure he saw his beloved dead. Make sure that there is nothing he can do to stop it from happening. And be his false hope when he uncovers her cold body in the morgue.

**...**

Rin dressed herself and put on a thin blue poncho over her clothes. She stepped into the living room where Jakotsu was sitting on the couch, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor.

Rin cocked her head to the side as if to ask, 'what's the matter?'

"Im fine. Don't worry. Just a little homesick. Anyways, how are you feeling? You look lovely." He changed the subject.

Rin halfheartedly smiled. She turned around and grabbed her notebook and pen off the coffee stand behind her. _Im going to go sit out by the water._

"Okay. I'll be in here if you need anything. And...work on getting your voice back. It would be a shame if I never got to hear it again." He winked at her playfully.

Rin set the notebook down and walked for the back door leading to the water's edge. She carefully stepped on the ground and sat down so the sun was not in her face, but everywhere else on her body.

It was cold. It was nearly winter and snow had already fallen on most of the mountain. She brought her legs up close to her chest, but not all the way, and draped the long blue poncho over her legs. She stared at the water and the reflection of the sun.

She took a deep breath in and imagined Sesshomaru sitting beside her as she placed her hand on her stomach.

A few minutes later, she inhaled deeply and stood up, determined to live without him. After she stretched a bit, she turned and walked back toward the house. She pushed the sliding door open and stepped in. She closed it without a sound and walked silently into the living room where Jakotsu was playing a game on his phone.

She opened her mouth and tried to speak.

Nothing. Just silence.

Jakotsu looked up from tapping his phone rapidly and noticed she was trying to talk. "Give it some time, dear. Your voice will return eventually."

She smiled and nodded. She grabbed her notebook and pen and sat down beside Jakotsu, whose eyes never left her for a moment.

He read as she wrote,_ I need a job so I can buy food and stuff. Do you think you can find me one that doesn't require talking?_

"I suppose... What did you have in mind?" He looked back down at his phone, starting another round while she wrote.

_Maybe a librarian? That doesn't require talking, right? _

"Actually, one of my friends that lives around here said that the school was looking for a new librarian. Interested?" He asked without looking up from his phone.

She sighed and tapped his screen before he had a chance to pull away.

"Oh come on! I was three away from beating my high score! It's called Don't Tap the White Tile, so you're not supposed to tap the white tile!" He wined, causing Rin to giggle.

"See. You'll have your voice back in no time." He clicked his phones screen off and patted Rin on the shoulder.

Rin smiled and stood up, headed for her room.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour." He winked at her.

She rolled her eyes and continued up the stairs to her bedroom. She pulled her laptop out of her bag and opened it, deciding she had nothing to do, she opened her browser and went to her Facebook page only to find absolutely nothing interesting.

She closed out the window and decided to start a journal/diary thing. A pregnancy journal, perhaps?

She decided to start with when she first found out she was pregnant and type everything that had happened up until this moment.

**...One week later...**

Kagome feared that Sesshomaru had gone to look for Rin by himself, seeing as how no one had seen him at his work and no one had heard from him in over a week. She decided she would check his house to make sure he wasn't just hiding out from the world.

She got out of her car and walked to the front door and opened it, finding nothing out of the ordinary. A couch in front of their flat screen, a spotless kitchen... All except her broach, still sitting on the dresser where she had left it.

She walked up the stairs and called out Sesshomaru's name. "Sesshomaru? Sessh, are you up here?"

The door to his bedroom flung open and before she could react, Sesshomaru was standing in front of her.

"Sesshomaru!" she gasped. "So, you are here," she said to herself.

"What did you just call me?" He hissed.

"Sessh? What? You don't like the nickname?" Kagome smirked.

"Do not call me by that nickname. Ever." He turned back toward his room.

"_That _nickname? Why? Is it something Rin called you?" Kagome intruded.

He was visibly angry and she knew she shouldn't agitate him any more than he already was in his condition.

"Yes."

_Did he just admit that or am I hearing things? _she thought to herself in disbelief.

"Who are you and what have you done with Sesshomaru?" Kagome teased.

He turned and glared at her.

She simply smiled and shrugged, resulting in him growling and walking back into his room without another word.

She followed him but stopped in the doorway, her eyes widening at the scene.

Almost everything in the room was smashed and would be costly to fix, while everything else was far beyond repair.

"Sessh...o...maru?" She took one step forward and noticed as glass from the broken television, crunched under her foot.

"Sesshomaru, this has to stop." She walked in front of him, sitting on the bed, looking into his blank eyes, more detached from the world than they had ever been before.

He turned and looked at the mess he had created, his expression unchanging. He turned back to her, his eyes pleading, as if to say, _Please find her. _

Kagome grimaced. "I'll call your mother and see if she has heard anything about Rin. In the meantime, you should clean up this mess."

He snarled at the idea of cleaning. He decided he would just call one of his maids to clean it for him.

"Now, don't go calling any maids to do it for you," she added, as if she could read his mind. She turned and walked to the broken TV and put her hand on the corner. "It will take your mind off things and...think of it as a symbol. You have to clean up the messes you make. No one can help you with that." She smiled, proud of herself.

She glanced one last time at a slightly surprised Sesshomaru before walking out of the room and down the stairs to the door. She calmly walked to her car and pulled out her phone, dialing Inuyasha's number.

"Yellow?"

"And green." Kagome replied to his remark.

"So, did you find him?" Inuyasha asked anxiously.

"Yeah. He's fine. He just at his house." She decided not to tell him what Sesshomaru's room looked like, in fear Inuyasha might freak out.

"He's not fine. What did his room look like? Anything smashed? Broken?" He asked, leaving Kagome speechless.

"How...did you know?" She turned down a series of streets that lead to her house.

"Because that's exactly how I would react. He can't take much more of this, Kagome. He _needs_ her right now. Most likely more than she needs him." Inuyasha stated, completely oblivious of how romantic he had just been.

"Really?" Kagome said, hopeful.

"Well, yeah. How bad was the room?"

Kagome sighed. "Bad."

**...**

"Rin. Are you sure you want me to go? I can stay longer if you want." Jakotsu almost begged to stay behind, but, ultimately, it was up to her.

"Go back, Jack," she whispered. "I'm fine." I had been a week and all she could regain was a faint whisper. Still, it was better than nothing.

He grimaced and pulled her into a hug. "The car has a full tank of gas for tomorrow. I'll call you when I get home, alright?"

"Thanks," she whispered.

He nodded and pulled his suitcase out the door and to the taxi. Rin stayed just inside the door and watched him wave as the taxi drove away.

She waved back and closed the door as soon as the taxi was out of sight. She walked to the window and watched as the first snow fell.

"This is going to be a long winter," she sighed.

She closed the curtains and tossed another log of firewood into the fireplace and watched as the flames danced with grace.

What freedom they had. Able to do whatever they wanted, to know that they would only get one chance before they ceased to exist. Once the cold of the world put out the flame.

She sat down on the couch and grabbed her purse. She decided she would look through what all he had given her, now that she had some time to actually sit down and go through it all.

She pulled out her white wallet with mustaches on it and opened it up to find a new ID with a picture he had taken of her the second day they were here.

Her name was no longer Rin Takahashi. It was Rini Akoi.

She sighed and closed the wallet, placing it gently on the open couch cushion beside her. She pulled out a passport that was also in her new name, her school registration and identification card, also in her new name.

She pulled out the car keys he had given her that belonged to the silverish gold Pontiac van in the garage. That would be how she would get to work the next day.

She was no longer herself. And yet, she was happy about it. She was no longer _his._ He could no longer control her. He had _no power_ over her any longer.

She was free.

**...The next day...**

Sesshomaru sat up from his uncomfortable position on his bed and took a in a fast sharp breath. Breathing had become somewhat bothersome for him as he fought tooth and nail to keep his beast locked up inside.

He stood up and composed what was left of his sanity, brushing his hands down the length of his upper body to straighten out his ruffled clothes.

He pondered what Kagome had said,_ "It will take your mind off things and...think of it as a symbol. You have to clean up the messes you make. No one can help you with that."_

"Clean up the messes you make…" he repeated quietly, as if it would give him some sliver of motivation to do something besides lie on his bed unable to do anything because of his beast's irrationality.

He closed his eyes for a brief moment and took a step forward, leaning down to pick up a lamp that had been thrown to the floor in his initial outburst of trying to control his beast.

He set the lamp on the bedside stand and turned to look at his trashed room.

**We have better thing to be doing that things as tedious as **_**this!**_

Sesshomaru ignored his beast and bent down the collect a few fragments of glass of the floor.

Before he realized it, he had cleaned his room, besides his shattered television and his cracked and splintering footboard.

He sighed as he spotted one piece of cream colored clothing half hidden under the bed. He fell down to a squat and lightly grabbed the haori. He almost dropped it when he realized what it was. It was his white haori he had given to Rin on their wedding night when they got caught in the rain. He shuttered at the memory.

At the scent it was releasing in his hand. Onto his skin. It was driving him mad. He pulled it to his chin and inhaled her intoxicating perfume scent. He squeezed his eyes shut and balled his fist into the fabric.

Only then did he realize how much he needed her. Even if he was completely unwilling to admit it to himself; he needed her. He simply could not live without her.

What he had done was worse than killing a hundred people. It was worse than death, he concluded. He hurt her. And it was slowly, agonizingly, painfully, shredding him to pieces.

**You must stop this madness now! Taunting me with her scent is foolish. We need to find her. To hold her. Never let her go.**

**...**

Hakudoshi sat outside with Byakuya waiting for Rin to come out of her house and leave for her first day of work.

"Why do we have to wait? What don't you just finish the job now and get it over with?" Byakuya questioned in his unusually high voice.

"Because, you moron, killing is illegal." Hakudoshi rolled his eyes at his brother's remark.

"Well, I know that." He tapped his finger against the tree he was leaning against. "It's just taking so long."

Hakudoshi sighed but to his and Byakuya's surprise, Rin stepped out of the front door and locked it. She then pressed a button to open the garage to reveal her gold colored van.

Hakudoshi smirked, knowing exactly how he would kill her. He silently leapt down from the tree into the snow, his white attire blending almost perfectly with the snow. Byakuya stayed in the tree to observe.

Rin opened her car and put her stuff in the back seat while Hakudoshi crept around to the opposite side of the car and rolled under, looking for the wire he would cut.

Upon finding it, he pulled out his pocket knife and slit the wire in two. He smirked at his handiwork and made haste of getting out from under the van.

Rin closed the rear passenger door and got in the front and turned the key. She closed the door and quickly turned on the heat, only for cold air to blow against her already freezing skin.

Hakudoshi crawled through the snow until he was safely hidden behind a small hill.

Rin backed out of the drive way and out onto the road.

Byakuya jumped out of the tree and Hakudoshi stood up and brushed the snow off him. "And that is how it's done," he bragged.

"What exactly did you do?" Byakuya asked, crossing his arms.

"I cut her brake line. When she slams the brakes..." Hakudoshi dragged his finger across his neck.

Byakuya smirked as they both turned to leave and follow the van.

Rin went slowly down the road, trying not to hit any patches of ice too fast. Soon, she stopped paying attention to the speedometer and was going at a steady pace of 45mph.

She hit an unexpected patch of ice and slammed the brakes in hopes she would stop. Her prayers were unanswered as the van continued to slide toward a tree.

She screamed at the top of her lungs as the car hit the tree and crunched her between the steering wheel and seat. She hit her head on the steering wheel, not knocking her unconscious, but barely able to tell what was happening.

Everything was blurry. The snow. The trees. She saw two people approaching.

_Help me! _She tried to speak but her mouth wouldn't move.

Hakudoshi smiled at the horrific sight. The van was wrapped around the tree and her face was covered on blood.

Byakuya covered his nose with his hand. "Is she dead?" he asked from behind his sleeve.

Hakudoshi walked closer and saw that she was still alive. "No. But, we shall leave her to suffer. I'm sure it is what Kagura would have wanted. A slow death is always more appealing."

They walked away before they both took off and were gone.

_Kagura? Who is...that person who is supposed to save me? He was...supposed to...always...protect..._

The darkness took her before she could even breathe.


	3. Chapter 3 Punishment

Kagura sat on the top ledge of Taisho Inc., waiting for Hakudoshi to call. As if on cue, her phone rang and she answered it faster than she ever had before.

"It's done." His voice was cocky.

"You're positive? She is dead?" Kagura tilted her head down and glared at the sky.

"A nice slow, painful death if you ask me." Byakuya could be heard in the background.

"Excellent."

"Call me anytime." Hakudoshi ended the call.

Kagura smirked and jumped over the edge, letting the wind guide her down to a graceful landing on the ground in front of the door. It opened as soon as her feet met the ground.

She walked in and went straight for the elevator. Some people were already impatiently standing inside, watching her intently as she stepped in. One had headphones in and two tall blonds dressed in uniforms; clearly interns. Kagura pressed the 34 button and took a step back from the button pad.

The doors closed and they began their accent upwards.

"I heard Mr. Takahashi hasn't been here in a week." The blonde tall whispered to the other that looked exactly like her.

"Yeah. It's because of his mate." The one on the left said.

"That's odd. What happened?"

"I heard that she's pregnant."

The one on the right squealed. "That's great! When is she due? I really wanna see the little cutie! I bet it will have perfect hair just like its daddy! Oh, and I bet it will have those cute fuzzy ears! "

Kagura kept her face expressionless even though she wanted to kill them both right then and there for even thinking of an appearance for the dead pup they might have had.

"Actually, it's because his mate left him. He hasn't been able to come to work since. The poor guy."

"That's terrible. I hope he finds her. Un, do you think he's going to find her?" The one on the right asked quickly.

Kagura smirked, _of course he's not going to find her. She's dead._

"Ah, calm down. He will, I'm sure of it."

The elevator stopped at floor 34 and she swiftly stepped out, not wanting to her anymore of Ah or Un's infuriating chatter.

"Kanna." She called to her sister who looked away from her computer screen.

"Kagura. What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I need to speak to him. Where is he?" Kagura demanded.

"He hasn't come to work in over a week. Perhaps you should check his home." Kanna suggested. "I wouldn't, though. He hasn't seen his mate in a week and a half. I don't want to imagine the things he might do to you if you did find him," she warned.

"Fine." She turned back towards the elevator, madder than hell.

**...**

Rin slowly opened her heavy eyes and was instantly blinded by the light that filled the entire room. She blinked a few times before her eyes became accustomed to the light. Her eyes darted from left to right as she desperately tried to figure out where she was. She looked up and saw the picture of the sky with a white puffy cloud and a bird flying adjacent to it.

She concluded she was in a hospital room when she finally acknowledged the loud beeping coming from the monitor above her began to increase. Within a matter of seconds, a nurse with long dark hair walked hastily in her room.

She grabbed at a pager clipped to her belt and typed profusely at it before settling it back at her hip. She walked calmly to the sink in her room and grabbed a clipboard off the counter beside it. She clicked the pen that was attached to it and looked at the clock hanging on the wall before writing down the time Rin had awoken.

Rin took a deep breath in and realized there was a tube going down her throat. She swallowed the saliva that was forming in her mouth only for it to burn her as the muscles clenched around the plastic.

She groaned in pain and the nurse, who was scribbling something on the paper, looked up at her with the expression of pity. She gave Rin a warm smile to try and cheer her up, although not warm enough to bring feeling back to her cold hands and feet.

A minute later, a doctor with short black hair gathered into a small pig-tail at the base of his head walked in. He was wearing an emerald green doctor's uniform, looked up at the monitors that were recording her heart beat and beeping louder than necessary every time it pulsed. The sound was ringing in her ears and made her head pound.

He walked up to the side of her cream colored hospital bed. "How are you feeling, Ms. Akoi?" he asked, grabbing the clipboard from the nurse as she held it out for him.

She stared at the doctor looming over her. Did he really expect her to answer him with a tube down her throat? She tried to lift her arm but only succeeded in wiggling her fingers, sending a shooting pain up her arm.

He looked down at her. "Sorry." He lifted a few sheets of paper that were fastened to the clipboard and pointed at the paper with the pen as he spoke. "You had quite an accident. You broke your right arm and splintered the other one," he said with a grim, sorrowful tone. "Both of your legs were fractured and you also have three shattered ribs; the tube is supporting and maintaining your lungs and breathing frequency."

She groaned again and tried to lift my arm to no avail.

"You were brought here with a serious concussion and a hairline fracture in your neck," he added to the seemingly never-ending list of her injuries.

She closed her eyes and tried to remember what the hell had happened to her to cause such an extensive amount of injuries.

_Nothing_.

She couldn't remember anything prior to waking up to the blinding light of the hospital. She opened her eyes to look at the doctor with a painful, confused expression.

"Luckily, none of your vital organs were damaged and your spine was miraculously left untouched. I am pleased to inform you that you are healing quite quickly. The tube should be out by tomorrow. We will continue our conversation then. For now, try to get some rest." He wrote on the clipboard once more and then clicked the pen against the paper.

Rin watched as he put the clipboard back on the counter and left her room mumbling something or another to the nurse.

She closed her eyes, suddenly feeling extremely tired, and allowed sleep to overcome her.

**...**

Kagura knocked on the door of Sesshomaru's house. She crossed her arms and waited for him to come to the door, blowing her breath in the air and watched as it formed a small white cloud before disappearing. She grabbed the doorknob and turned; to her surprise, it was unlocked.

She walked in the house and looked around. A pink couch, spotless kitchen, and a slightly dusty broach sitting atop the dresser just inside the door with an expensive looking lamp blanketed in dust. She took a deep breath. Sesshomaru was definitely here. His scent seemed to be concentrated in one place in his house: his room.

She walked up the stairs, following her nose to his room. "Sesshomaru?" she whispered, suddenly stricken with fear. She pushed the door open to see Sesshomaru laying on his side on the bed covered in blood and his room trashed.

"Sesshomaru!" she screamed, slightly angered that he would allow that human to torture him like this. Before she could even move, he had turned over and was propped up on his elbows glaring at her with crimson red eyes.

"Sesshomaru, what the hell happened to you? You're not seriously grieving the pathetic human, are you?" She stood her ground, not brave enough to go any further, but stupid enough to speak her mind.

He snarled at her and leapt off his bed. His hands were half-transformed and his nose was unusually long, but somehow he still maintained his humanoid stance.

She took a step back as he landed in front of her, baring his fangs to her. He snarled loudly and glared loathfully into her red eyes.

**Kill her! Kill her while you have the chance!**

_Killing her would solve nothing!_

**It will ease my anger…for the moment. Just kill her, dammit!**

_I refuse to do it by your rules!_

**Is that right…?**

Before he had time to stop his beast, he drew his hand back, preparing to strike her with his venom-drenched claws.

She glared at him, only provoking him further.

His beast took control for a split second and swung, hitting her on the chest and letting her blood cover his already soiled attire.

She screamed and dropped to the floor. She would be unable to heal due to his toxic poison.

"You... Bastard!" she yelled.

He growled, completely unable to think of anything but watching her die. Slowly. Painfully. By his hand. Nothing would please him more at the moment. Except possibly finding Rin. Yes, it would please him more than anything to know she was safe and in his arms.

Her body convulsed a couple times before she looked at him and smirked as some blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. "You…fool. Now you will never see her-" she coughed up some blood, "-again." She gurgled and choked on her own blood seeping into her lungs while the rest of it soaked his carpet.

**"WHAT?!"** Sesshomaru and his beast hissed.

"She's beyond your reach." She smiled sinisterly one last time. "I killed her."

**"BITCH!" **He knelt down beside her and clawed at her until there was nothing left but blood and pieces of flesh scattered about the room.

His beast growled, threatening to take full control of him. His aura alone singed the floor. He punched the wall, it shattered and cracked.

He screamed at the top of his lungs. Screamed. Screamed her name as if she would hear. The mark he had left on her shoulder should have allowed him to feel her, to know she was safe. _Why can't I feel her anymore? _All he could do was scream.

And scream…

**...The next day...**

Rin awoke to the blinding light once more, but this time it was slightly easier to regain her consciousness. She moved her head to the side and looked out the window at the parking lot of the hospital. She was in a different room than before.

She swallowed and, to her surprise, there was no annoying tube to burn her throat. She groaned. "Owwwww."

The same nurse as before walked in her room with her doctor and pulled up a chair that was pushed up against the wall and sat down. The doctor, however, walked right up to her bedside.

"I see you have awoken. Tell me, how do you feel?"

"Horrible." She mumbled.

"Yes, that's to be expected. Does it hurt anywhere in particular?" He asked.

"Not really," she stated blandly. "Just a dull ache."

He glanced over his shoulder at her nurse. "Kikyo, can you get some more of the pain killers?"

She nodded and stood from her seat, taking off in a brisk walk toward the exit of her room.

He turned back to her and grimaced. "Your injuries are healing faster than we would have anticipated. Do you have any idea why that would be?" He asked.

"No." She answered.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you know why you're here?"

"You said I was in an accident?" She squinted her eyes, trying to remember.

"Do you remember being in the accident?" He asked.

She shook her head.

"Do you remember anything prior to the accident?"

Again, she shook her head.

He turned to the exit of her room and muttered to himself about what was taking Kikyo so long. He turned back to Rin. "It may be possible that you have amnesia."

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember something. _Anything._ But nothing seemed to come to her. Her eyes snapped back open when she heard the clicking of heels coming toward her room.

Kikyo stepped in and handed a syringe with a long needle coming off one end and a small bottle of liquid. He poked the needle into the top of the bottle and tilted it up-side-down, allowing the clear liquid to seep into the syringe. He pulled it out and handed the bottle back to Kikyo. He gave the syringe a small squeeze to test if the liquid would come out properly. When it did he then injected the liquid into the line that connected her to her I.V. She couldn't tell any difference when he did except for a small twinge of nausea in her abdomen.

"This should help ease the pain." He paused and looked at Kikyo before turning back to Rin. "Your wounds are healing at an unnatural rate..." His eyes traced along her body down to her casted legs. "Your arms have already mostly healed and your ribs have healed completely overnight. I would like for you to stay here for a little while longer to see if I can identify what is healing you so quickly. If that's alright with you, of course," he added quickly.

"Do I have anywhere else to be? Do I have a family waiting for me somewhere?" she asked.

Kikyo gave the doctor a confused look.

"She has amnesia. If you could just write that down, please." He handed her a manila file folder from under his arm and a pen out of his pocket.

She instantly opened it and flipped through some of the pages before writing.

He turned back to Rin and gave her a sad smile. "I'm afraid not. You live alone and you didn't seem to have any family."

"Where do I live?" She mumbled.

"Your wallet had directions to a house overlooking a lake just outside of town. You were found on the road leading to that house. You were heading to work at the local elementary school as their newly hired librarian." He said each word slowly as if she was also going deaf.

She rolled her eyes at his pace. "Who found me?" She asked.

"A young man, about your age, named Kohaku. He told the hospital to call him when you needed a ride home. But we were going to wait until we had your say in the matter," he confessed.

She contemplated the fact that a man had brought her in and volunteered to help her. "I want to go home." She said unemotionally.

"Alright." He sucked in a deep breath and rubbed at his temple with his index and forefinger. "I will get your discharge and have the receptionist call for your ride. I would, if it would not be too much of a hassle, like you to come in here every few days for a check-up," he stated.

Rin nodded and tried to lift herself up with her good arm. After a moment of struggling, she managed to pull herself up with her stomach muscles. She looked up the doctor who was entering her room with a wheelchair and some papers, presumably the discharge paperwork.

She lowered herself into the wheelchair with his help and put her bagged clothes in her lap. He wheeled her down several hallways heading toward the exit.

"What is my name?" she asked timidly.

"Rini Akoi. Your purse and other belongings found at the crash will be returned to you once we get to the waiting room." He explained.

She hesitated before asking anything further, but decided she wanted to know her doctors name. "What is your name?"

"My name is Suikotsu." He said without losing focus on where he was going.

The name seemed strangely familiar, but she brushed it off as he stopped in front of two large wooden doors and pressed a silver button on the wall. The door opened slowly and she was greeted with bright rays of the early morning sunlight shining through windows as big as walls that revealed a magnificent garden.

She was wheeled to the reception desk where Suikotsu asked the brunette sitting behind it when her ride would be arriving.

"He said he would be here in five minutes," she responded a bit too cheery for even Rin to handle at the moment.

"Would you like something to eat before you leave?" Suikotsu leaned down and asked beside her ear.

The hot breath rushed down her neck and suddenly she was hit with a stomach turning wave of Deja Vu. She felt like someone had done this to her before, but she couldn't remember where or who. She tensed and Suikotsu shot up immediately.

"I apologize if I made you uncomfortable. It was not my intention," he explained pleadingly.

She nodded and held her stomach which was still doing flips inside of her.

Suikotsu wheeled her outside and sat down on a bench with her off to the side. It was an enclosed area but the walls closing it off from the outside world were made of glass and looked like it would not be easily broken.

Rin tapped her finger against the armrest of her wheelchair impatiently as she waited for this Kohaku person to arrive. She looked over her shoulder as she heard clicking heels against the hard tile of the hospital floor and saw a casually dressed Kikyo heading for the door.

Another nurse walked up to her side. "You're leaving so soon? Your shift isn't even over until seven." She asked Kikyo, who briefly stopped to engage her in conversation.

"Yeah, sorry. My ride is here early and he wanted me home for something important. Apparently, Kagura is in trouble again." She huffed.

"Well, good luck with that." They both broke out laughing.

Kikyo hugged her nurse friend and continued her walk for the door. She walked out the door and was greeted by her boyfriend, Rin assumed. He had long black wavy hair flowing down his back and was wearing a deep purple and blue sweater.

He opened the passenger door to his sky blue Saturn and placed a kiss on her cheek before she slipped into the SUV. He closed the door and made his way to his side and climbed in. They began a conversation, but Rin couldn't hear as they drove away.

"Who was that?" Rin looked beside her to where Suikotsu was reading a sports magazine. Was that a woman in a bikini she just saw? _Why in the hell would that be at a hospital, _she looked at her doctor, suddenly feeling disgusted.

He looked up from the article he was engrossed in, most likely the article of _clothing_ that was conveniently missing on the woman, and looked at the blue car driving swiftly away from the hospital. "Kikyo and Naraku. They've been seeing each other ever since she transferred here from Tokyo."

"Tokyo..." Rin whispered. She felt like she knew that place... All the tall flashy buildings.

The tall building...

She snapped out of her daze when Suikotsu thrust his magazine onto the table beside him and abruptly stood up.

A tan Nissan truck was pulling around the roundabout entrance to the hospital. Moments after the truck came to a stop, a man about her age hopped out and came to the passenger side and opened the door. He had fairly tan skin with even darker freckles. His deep brown eyes were warm and his onyx black hair was pulled into a small ponytail at the back of his head.

_Cute, but_... Rin felt like she was comparing him to...someone...somewhere. She felt like she could almost see him, but every time she tried to think of someone she might be seeing, her mind couldn't put a face to it.

Was she seeing someone? Were they worried about where she had disappeared to? Were they waiting for her?

**...**

Sesshomaru shot up when he hear the screech of police sirens coming his way. He knew they were coming for him. _What? How do they know?_

In the world of demons and humans, demons have a total of six strikes with the law. For the first offence, no matter how harsh the crime may be, you are let off with a warning. The second offence, however, if the crime is bad enough, can land you in jail for six months. For the third you will, no matter the content of the crime, be locked up for a year. The fourth is two years and the fifth is four years. If you manage to get six strikes, it will be an automatic life sentence with no possibility of getting out.

Most demons never make it past strike three or four, but those who do get to six usually end up committing suicide after about fifty years of imprisonment.

Sesshomaru had already used up two of his strikes already. The last offence had been around seventy years ago when a hawk demon got on his nerves.

Facing the cops now would mean his third offence. A year. He couldn't afford that now! Not with Rin still just out of his reach!

**Let them find us. I will simply kill them if they try to take us.**

_No! Killing even one of them would result in another offence and more time away from Rin._

**I do not care! We need to be able to get to her when the weather clears!**

_I know that._

"Mr. Takahashi! Exit your house slowly with your hands raised." One of the police officers yelled through a megaphone.

_I will turn myself in. Not because I want to, but because we cannot run from the police with a pup on the way._

**You will suffer without her for that amount of time. We both know the only thing that was keeping me contained this long was being surrounded by her scent.**

_I know that. But I will not allow you to do any more damage than has already been done._

He forced himself outside with his hand partially raised.

The lead police officer, a tiger demon, cautiously handcuffed him with adamant laced, steel handcuffs.

Growling the entire time, Sesshomaru was pushed into the back of the police car and driven off to the police station. Then it would be off to the state jail for the next year.

They arrived at the police station for registration and to get his mugshot.

**Get us out of here or I will! **Sesshomaru's beast snarled and thrashed within him.

_No._

Sesshomaru was lead into the building and handed a plaque with his name, age, and height printed onto it. They positioned his back against the wall. The camera flashed brightly as it snapped the photo of him but he refused to blink.

His sense of smell was over-run with the stench of alcohol, vomit, and human waste. He crinkled his nose in disgust. He was walked over to a desk with a female demon behind bars with ink and a paper sitting out for him to mark.

He pressed each one of his fingers into the ink and held them on the paper one at a time until the ink had dried on the paper. He was handed a wet towel to wipe the ink off but he angrily declined it after smelling the bleach-soaked cloth.

"We are contacting your family members. Do you have any objections to this?" The female behind the desk asked firmly, almost smugly, as if she liked to see how shocked the prisoners reacted when they heard the news.

It was nothing new to him and honestly, he could care less about what Inuyasha and his mate would think. For once, he agreed with his beast; Kagura deserved to die.

He glared at her and made a 'hn' sound.

She rolled her eyes and picked up the phone and dialed the demon's half-brother's phone number and put the phone to her head.

"This is Inuyasha speaking." Inuyasha clicked the TV to the next channel from his spot on the couch.

"This is the police department." She said.

Inuyasha turned the television off and stood up, drawing the attention of Kagome, who was making a sandwich in the kitchen.

"Who is it?" she called to him.

He held his hand over the mic of the phone, "It's the police," he said, still confused as to why they were calling. He put the phone back to his head. "How can I help you?"

"You were listed as a contact should we need to call you."

"A contact? What for?"

"You are Sesshomaru Takahashi's brother, correct?" She asked innocently.

Inuyasha huffed. "Yeah."

Kagome stopped what she was doing and walked over to where Inuyasha was standing. She looked up at him with her eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"We have called to inform you that your brother has been arrested and charged with murder. Should you have any say in the matter, you will have to come directly to the police department."

"What!?" Inuyasha shouted into the phone.

"What? What is it?" Kagome's eye widened at his reaction.

Inuyasha hung up and threw his phone against the couch. "Dammit!" He cursed.

"What happened?!" Kagome asked, already annoyed beyond belief.

"Sesshomaru had been arrested and charged with murder." Inuyasha sat down on the couch and put his elbows on his knees and his hands on his face, slowly running them through his hair.

Kagome's eyes widened. "Oh shit…"


	4. Chapter 4 Confinement

Kohaku pulled his truck into the gravel driveway of Rin's house. "You sure have a nice house," he commented.

Rin hadn't been big on talking on their drive over and still didn't particularly care for his obnoxious chatter.

Kohaku pulled his truck out of the hospital and onto the main road going out of town. "So what's your name?" he asked.

"Rini," she answered simply.

"I hope you're feeling better, Rini. When I found you, you were in pretty bad shape." He looked at her for a brief moment before looking back at the road.

"Hn," she hummed.

"You look better." He commented with a smile.

Was he seriously flirting with her? She just got out of the hospital and still had two broken legs and a mostly broken arm! Well, okay, that wasn't entirely true, but still...it felt weird…

She decided to stare out the window for most of the drive and give an occasional 'hm' to acknowledge she was listening; she wasn't really, though.

She opened her door and slowly moved her right leg out of the truck while Kohaku hastily jumped out and hurried to the back and get the wheelchair the hospital had given her.

He unfolded it and wheeled it beside Rin's open door and helped her slide into the faux leather seat. He pushed it to the porch and lifted it up the few steps. Surprisingly, she wasn't very heavy making it relatively easy to pull her up the steps.

She reached in her purse and allowed her fingers to fumble around until they found the cold metal of her keys. She looked at the various keys attached to the ring and wondered which one went to the door.

Kohaku tried several different keys before the lock finally turned, allowing the door to open. By the time they managed to figure out which key fit, Rin was shivering and rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm them.

Kohaku hastily pushed her inside and closed the door. He walked over to the fireplace and immediately turned the knob that ignited the fire. He placed a few logs in and stood back and looked at Rin. "Do you need me to get you anything? Are you hungry?" He asked.

Rin shook her head and looked out the window at the slowly falling snowflakes.

Kohaku followed her gaze out the window. "Crap! Its already snowing?!" He fretted. "The weatherman said it wasn't supposed to snow until midday!"

A small, almost unnoticeable, smile of amusement crept across Rin lips.

"If it's snowing, I can't go home." He stated, glaring out the window at the snow.

The smile that once graced her lips suddenly vanished at this piece of information. He was going to have to stay? Here? With her? _Alone?_

She shuttered. Something deep within her stomach turned and she immediately felt like she was going to be sick. She covered her hand with her mouth and her cheeks paled.

"Are you okay?" He took a quick step toward her and knelt down to look her in the eyes.

She quickly shook her head. "I think I'm going to be sick." She squeezed her eyes shut and tried with all her might to keep the bile in her throat from coming any further up.

He leapt to his feet and raced to the kitchen and returned a moment later with a large orange plastic bowl. He held it in front of her.

She latched onto the bowl the moment her will gave out. Her stomach heaved but produced nothing. She had not eaten any _real_ food since before she had been in the crash. _Maybe even before that, _her mind raced and whipped around in circles.

Kohaku fell into a crouch and rubbed her back as she continued to heave into the unsettlingly empty bowl. Once she pulled back and took in a deep breath to steady herself, he looked up into her eyes, "You need to eat something."

She shook her head. "I don't think I could eat right now if I wanted to." She wiped at her mouth with the sleeve of her sweater she had put on their way there.

"Please try." He implored.

Rin looked into his large brown eyes and saw that he was literally begging. Did everyone here have brown eyes? She nodded.

Rin swallowed hard as Kohaku stood up from his squat and headed for the kitchen. She rubbed her stomach and groaned. What was causing her to be puking? Was it because she hadn't eaten? Maybe it was the after effects of the concussion she got in the accident...

_No. It can't be that. That happened days ago, _she thought to herself, still slightly dazed._ And besides, wouldn't the doctors have told her of any lasting side effects?_

Kohaku returned a moment later and wheeled her carefully into the kitchen beside the table. "I found some rice in your fridge that looked pretty good, so I warmed it up for you."

Rin nodded, unsure if she wanted to thank him for the food she didn't want. "Thanks." She mumbled agitatedly.

He nodded and then proceeded to pull a chair away from the table to make room for her. He pushed her up to the table as the microwave beeped, signaling her food was warm. He placed it in front of her and sat down on the other side, so he was facing her.

She poked at her food with her chopsticks. After looking up and receiving a pleading glare from Kohaku, she decided to take a small bite. The moment the food touched her tongue, she completely forgot that she had been heaving only a minute before and scarfed the food until none was left.

"I didn't realize how hungry I was." She mused, her sour mood had lightened with her consumption of food. She blushed when she saw him still staring at her.

"I'm like that sometimes, too." He admitted. Upon noticing her slight blush, he craned his head around to get a closer look at her house. The table had a white lace place mat in the center with a crystal vase filled with blue roses.

_Blue roses, _he thought, _longing to attain the impossible._

He had always been fascinated with nature and flowers. He had gone so far as to find out the meaning of certain flowers and what their color signified. Although he was sure it was just a coincidence she would have a vase filled with _blue_ roses, it still didn't stop the unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach that something didn't feel right.

The table itself was a deep shade of mahogany, beautifully complementing the milky white, cream colored walls that surrounded the three huge windows in each of the three walls. The windows were huge and gave a clear view into the snow blanketed forest and the frost covered lake.

He figured the house was at least three stories tall, if not more, from the glance he had gotten when they arrived.

Kohaku found himself strangely interested on how she could have possibly paid for a house this size. She had to have someone else that was helping her. A husband? No, he didn't see a ring on her finger. Perhaps family? Though that was possible, he didn't see any photographs of...anyone. Her house was unnervingly vacant.

Kohaku was pulled out of his train of thought and no-so-concealed gawking at her beautiful and frightening house when he heard the clink of her chopsticks hitting the bowl. It took a moment to register they were staring at each other. Kohaku instantly looked away and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't think we've been formally introduced. My name is Kohaku. I'm sorry if this is strange to have someone you don't know inside your house."

Rin shook her head. "It's alright. I'm grateful you saved me. You're actually one of the only people I know..." She locked her gaze out the window, obviously lost in thought.

"You must have friends, right? Family?" He asked, suddenly concerned that she seemed not have anyone to be friendly towards. She seemed friendly enough, so she should have friends, right?

Right?

"I don't know." She confessed, never bringing her hollow gaze off the pale pink flowers that seemed to be budding on a tree outside her window. "I can't remember anything before waking up in the hospital."

"Nothing?" His eyes grew wide. She had amnesia? She must have been hurt worse than he thought when he found her half dead on the side of the road.

"Nothing." She confirmed, breaking her gaze from the flowers to look at him. Mostly to see his reaction, nothing more.

"Well, I guess that means you can't tell me anything about yourself." He chuckled nervously.

"Nah. I can't even tell myself." She beamed.

An awkward moment of silence passed before anything was said.

"So why do you think it was that you...you know...puked?" Kohaku asked with an expression of confusion and worry.

"Could be because of the concussion I had." She answered coolly.

"Maybe, but I thought the side effects for that only lasted a day or so…"

"Don't ask me." She put her hands in the air defensively and giggled.

Kohaku couldn't stifle the giggle rising in his throat. He giggled and shook his head, smiling.

"I think we're going to be great friends."

Kohaku looked up at her with a smile. "Really?"

"Definitely."

_Great. Friendzoned, _Kohaku sighed.

**...**

Kagome flew out of the passenger door of Inuyasha car faster than Inuyasha could even turn it off.

To say that she was mad would be a major understatement. She helped Rin get away from her cheating husband, fully knowing the implications, and now here she was; at the police station where her brother-in-law had been booked for murder.

_Great, _she fumed, _just fucking wonderful. This exactly what I needed right now._

"Kagome, wait!" Inuyasha jumped out of the car and was forced to use his demonic speed to catch up with her.

"How in the **hell **could he let this happen?!" She shrieked as Inuyasha grabbed her shoulders to hold her steady.

"I don't know, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. First we need to find out why he was arrested." Inuyasha tried to sooth her.

"They told you he was booked for MURDER! They don't do that for no reason, Inuyasha!" She half-growled, half-screamed.

Inuyasha looked up at the police station in front of them to see some of the cops eyeing them suspiciously. "Kagome, bring your voice down!" He hissed. "You are drawing unwanted attention to us."

"I don't care!" She shouted. "Rin is missing and Sesshomaru is in jail on his _third_ offence! Rin is pregnant and...and-and Sesshomaru is in JAIL!" She screeched.

"You already said that. Kagome, calm down. Please." He leaned down to look her directly in the eye. "You're hyperventilating." He rubbed small circles on her shoulder with his thumb in an effort to calm her.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply a couple times before her heart rate returned to normal.

"Are you okay to go in there?"

"I'll manage." She brushed him off and started walking toward the entrance of the police station. She pushed open the left door and waited for Inuyasha to walk through.

He glanced over his shoulder at Kagome as he passed by and stopped as soon as he was inside to wait for her.

A shapely woman with long dark brown hair, threatening to be black, tied up into a ponytail sat behind the front desk. She looked up from the book she was engrossed in and studied Inuyasha and Kagome closely.

"How can I help you?" She asked with a wide smile.

Kagome frowned and Inuyasha sighed.

"We need to speak to our brother. Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked.

The woman paused for a moment. "Is he on duty today? If he is, he won't be here."

Kagome shook her head and almost burst out laughing despite her foul mood. The mere thought of Sesshomaru being a policeman was just...outlandish and frankly, hilarious.

"No. He was...arrested."

The woman furrowed her brows and fell silent. "What was his offence?" She questioned seriously.

How could she know they were here to see a murderer? The poor girl was in for a shock, Kagome thought. "Murder." Kagome mumbled. "But we really need to see him as soon as possible." She added quickly.

The woman behind the desk looked as shocked as Kagome was stressed. It took her a minute to process what she heard before realizing they were still standing in front of her waiting for her response. "H-human or-or demon?" She stuttered.

"Demon." Inuyasha replied smoothly.

The woman turned to her computer and clicked a couple times before asking another question. "Name?"

"Sesshomaru Takahashi." Kagome said absently.

"_The_ Sesshomaru Takahashi?" She looked back at Kagome with wide eyes.

"Yeah." Kagome scoffed.

The woman looked back at her computer and scrolled down until she found his name. She squinted and pointed at the screen as she spoke. "Sesshomaru Takahashi is in the first room on the left down the hall. Here," She stood up and walked out from behind her desk. "I'll take you there."

"Thank you...ummm…" Kagome prompted.

"Sango. You can call me Sango." She smiled.

"Thanks, Sango." Kagome returned a polite smile even though she was about to implode upon herself.

Sango lead them down a dimly lit hallway to the right of her desk. Halfway down, Kagome could see a warm orange and yellow glow of an office, but further down was another story; it was bathed in a cold, blueish-grey color. Sango lead them into the office-like area filled with paperwork covered desks and bustling officers and detectives of all shapes and sizes.

"Koga!" Sango yelled, startling Inuyasha and Kagome.

A tall demon with tan skin and long black hair tied up in a ponytail, turned a full 180 at the sound of his name being called. He maneuvered smoothly through the overcrowded maze of desks to find himself face to face with the young beautiful woman that is Kagome.

"And who might this lovely woman be?" He asked Sango, his eyes never leaving Kagome's.

Inuyasha snarled. "Watch it, bud…"

Sango rolled her eyes. "This is Kagome _and _Inuyasha. They are here to see their brother. In room two?" She half glared at him.

_He's going to get himself maimed,_ Sango mused to herself.

Koga snapped his vision to the viciously snarling hanyou. He looked back at Kagome who was blushing profusely.

"Brother, huh? Well, they definitely seem to have the same temper." Koga huffed.

Kagome raised a questioning eyebrow. "The same? Psht, not even close."

"Maybe...Takahashi seemed worse so, I guess you're right..." He shrugged.

"Worse?! No! He's always calm and collected about everything!" Kagome shrieked. She hit Inuyasha with her elbow to silence the growls that were continuously emanating from somewhere deep in the back of his throat.

Inuyasha shot her a sidelong look from his position beside her and took a deep breath, trying to repress his outburst of possessiveness for his mate. He pondered what the wolf demon Inuyasha, concluded from the way he looked and smelled, had said about his half-brother that was currently being held in a 'room two.' "Kagome, you must keep it in mind that he has not seen his mate in two weeks." Inuyasha placed a single clawed hand on her shoulder.

"Well, yeah, but he can't be _that_ bad, right?" Kagome asked skeptically.

Sango and Koga exchanged worried glances, catching the attention of Inuyasha but not Kagome, who was still staring at the hanyou in confusion and disbelief.

"Two weeks?" Sango asked. "That would explain it." She muttered more to herself than anyone else.

"Explain what? What did that _baka_ do now?" Inuyasha crossed his arms.

Kagome sighed at the fact that her mate had lost his logical attitude and reverted back to his passive-aggressive intuitive side. She shook her head disapprovingly even though she, too, wanted to know the answer. Just _what_ had she meant by that?

Sango opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by Koga. "He came in pretty smoothly, but then he started resisting and even attacked one on my officers. We were forced to take...precautions." Koga rubbed at his chin as he spoke as if trying not to say the wrong thing.

"Precautions?" Kagome tilted her head slightly to the side, half in confusion, half worry.

"You'll see." He turned, expecting the group to follow. Koga led them further down the hallway towards the blueish-grey light.

As they got closer, Kagome could see that the light was emanating from white lightbulbs in the celling and were reflecting off the grey material that surrounded them. Was she imagining the blue tint? There was no blue anywhere in sight that the light could be shining off of.

They walked further down the hall until they were faced with two doors on either side of them. The one on the right was a normal-looking, firm plastic with a rectangular window with the number '1' painted in bold black above the door.

Inuyasha looked to the door on his left while Kagome continued to survey their surroundings. The door was made out of solid steel with no windows, unlike its counterpart across the hall. A bold '2' had been painted over the door.

This was the room they're keeping Sesshomaru in? Just what in the hell had he done to land himself in a place like _this?_ Kagome had been correct when she said that he had always been calm about everything. Not even at his and Rin's wedding had he showed his emotions. Inuyasha pondered the reasoning.

The door looked secure enough to withstand an explosion from close range; strong enough to cage even the most fearsome demons. Take Sesshomaru for example. Powerful daiyoukai that he was, he would still be unable to break through the door.

Sango unclasped a keychain off her belt and shifted through the various keys that dangled from the loop. Her fingers landed on a thick metal key with small engravings on the side that read, 'HR2'.

_H...R...2...,_ Inuyasha thought. _Holding room…?_

She pushed the key inside and turned with both hands. The noise that emanated from the unlocking bolts in the door echoed down the hallway and silenced the already muffled chatter coming from the office.

Kagome held her breath and Inuyasha tensed, although why was a mystery. They were just going to see Sesshomaru in there. Probably sitting with his back to the door and snarling continuously. No one else. So why were they so anxiously cautious? Kagome half expected the hinges on the door to creak as the door slowly opened. Though, because it didn't only made the situation more unnervingly quiet.

That was true...until Sesshomaru moved. The metallic sound of the metal chains that bound him to the wall being dragged against the metal of the room was stomach turning.

Kagome stepped in first and cast a deadly glare at her brother-in-law. He bared his fangs to her as his lips curled into a snarl and let a low growl.

Inuyasha came in second to find that Kagome and his brother had already engaged in a heated glare. His arms swayed at his side as he came to his spot beside Kagome and crossed them over his chest when he stopped. How amusing it was for him to see his brother, _Sesshomaru_, chained to a wall. Inuyasha found it unbearably hilarious but managed to stifle the laugh that was clawing its way up his throat. Instead, he settled for a smirk that covered his entire lips. Not even _he_ was stupid enough to do what his brother had done.

Sesshomaru lifted his head from its half-limp position that he was using to his advantage of glaring at Inuyasha's mate, to see who else had entered his personal prison. He was ready to kill the next being the dared ask him any more question as to why he did what he did. He needed no reason. The bitch deserved to die. Sesshomaru snarled when he saw that his hanyou brother had entered with his mate by his side.

"Sesshomaru, what the hell?!" Kagome exploded.

Sesshomaru fixed his gaze onto the woman and glared at her with everything he had; a slight red aura was beginning to emanate around him in the dark of the room and his eyes slowly turning a glowing crimson red.

"Yeah, Sesshomaru. Seriously, what the hell?" Inuyasha put a protective arm around Kagome's waist.

Sesshomaru's beast envied that his brother had his mate by his side while she was pregnant. His beast couldn't fathom why Sesshomaru was resisting his desires for his own mate, _especially_ while she was carrying his pup. Had he known, he wouldn't have done the things that he did. He shouldn't have done them in the first place. What a fool he had become.

"I am not obligated to explain my actions to you or anyone else." Sesshomaru growled.

Kagome flinched and Inuyasha's grip on her tightened. Inuyasha leaned over and whispered in Kagome's ear to leave and allow him to handle things with Sesshomaru alone. She immediately protested but Inuyasha was able to convince her to leave.

Sango instantly got the message when Kagome went for the door. Koga, on the other hand, hadn't even bothered to go in once the door was open and walked back to the office muttering something about Sesshomaru roughing up a few of his officers.

Kagome hesitantly walked out the door and shot Inuyasha one last worried glance before she disappeared from sight.

Inuyasha turned back to his brother once the door was shut and they were once again enshrouded in a deadly silence. "Alright. Just who in the hell did you kill this time?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically and was answered with a throaty growl from the chained figure.

"The bitch deserved what she got." Sesshomaru growled.

"Who and why?" Inuyasha crossed his arms again, feeling particularly smart for making his remark sound the way it did.

Sesshomaru growled louder at his brother's stupidity.

"Alright, how about I try to guess, eh?" Inuyasha smirked.

"She killed her." Sesshomaru was determined to keep his voice stiff, but how could he when he was being forced to remember his mate being killed?

"Okay so at least I know that it's a sh- WAIT, what?! Who killed who?!" Inuyasha demanded.

"Kagura." Sesshomaru hissed and mentally kicked himself for saying her name.

"Wait so... Kagura's dead?"

Sesshomaru only growled in acknowledgment.

"So you killed her, then? That still doesn't explain..." Inuyasha went silent at the realization. Kagome had told him earlier that Rin still hadn't called and now Sesshomaru saying a 'her' was dead. _This is bad,_ Inuyasha thought. _This is really, really bad._

Inuyasha ran his hand through his hair and frustration. How could he let this happen?! How could he let Kagome take her to Jakotsu's knowing she was going to leave the city?! How?! How could he let this happen?! "Kagura killed Rin." Inuyasha whispered in realization.

Sesshomaru stayed quiet despite the internal beating he was administering himself. How could he let this happen? How could he have even touched any other woman besides Rin? His mate. How?! How could he let this happen?! If he had just been better to her, none of this would be happening. He and Rin would most likely be sitting at home watching the snow fall with her resting peacefully in his arms. Kagura would still be alive.

"This is my fault." Sesshomaru said grimly.

"No. This is my fault." Inuyasha corrected him. "If I hadn't let Kagome take her to Jakotsu's, or if I hadn't let her take Rin to your office that night..." Inuyasha turned away from Sesshomaru and hunched over with his left hand on his hip and his right rubbing his face. "Oh God, this is all so messed up." He mumbled.

"It is not your fault. It is mine. I was a terrible husband and I am the one who drove her away. It is no one's fault but my own." Sesshomaru stated almost emotionally.

Inuyasha changed moods rather quickly at his brother's confession. "Yeah, actually, you were a terrible husband, not to mention a horrible mate. Why in seven hells were you acting like that?!" Inuyasha growled.

Sesshomaru snarled at his brother's outburst. "Because, staying away from her was the only thing I could do to keep my hands off her. After I marked her as my mate, she avoided me at all costs. So, I refrained from touching her."

"Staying away, huh? More like screwing any woman that would have you." Inuyasha huffed.

"No!" Sesshomaru hissed. "The only women I bedded were Rin and Kagura."

Kagome pushed the door open and saw both Inuyasha and his brother stare in her direction. "I was listening to you two talk and... Sesshomaru…," She nearly whimpered but managed to keep her voice from cracking. "After you marked Rin, we went out for lunch that next day and all she would talk about was you and," Kagome's eyes watered and Inuyasha made his way over to her. "And how happy she was that you had finally marked her. She told me that you guys...you know...and she said that she was extremely self-conscious that she wasn't very good. Sesshomaru, she was waiting for you. She wanted you to seek her out because she was too embarrassed to do it herself." A tear slid down her cheek at the thought of how terrible things had turned out. Rin was dead and Sesshomaru in jail.

Sesshomaru's eyes were downcast in shame. He had misunderstood her reaction? She wanted him...to go after her? She was self-conscious about whether she was good in bed or not? Sesshomaru wondered how she could have ever thought of such a ludicrous idea. She was amazing. And it had taken everything he had not to take her when he pleased.

Inuyasha hugged Kagome and allowed her to cry into his red hoodie until there was nothing left for her to cry out.

Kagome swiped at her eyes and pulled out a pocket mirror to correct her smeared makeup. Once she regained her sense of rightness, she turned to Inuyasha. "Rin can't be dead. I would know if my best friend was dead." She narrowed her eyes.

Inuyasha's expression fell. He shook his head slightly with his mouth pulled into a tight line. "Kagome, you yourself said she would call and...she hasn't..." Inuyasha whispered grimly.

"No!" She shrieked. "I would know if she's dead! And she's not dead." Kagome insisted.

"Alright, calm down. Maybe there is somebody we can call. Who lives up there that might know if something like that happened?" Inuyasha said anything to calm her.

"I know somebody who live up there." Sango pitched in.

"Who?" Kagome asked frantically.

"You said your friend was pregnant, right? Well, if she's not dead, she would have gone to see a doctor about it right? I know a gynecologist that works at the hospital up there." She explained.

"Oh! Inuyasha, doesn't one of Jakotsu's brother's also work at a hospital up there?" Kagome asked hopefully.

"Yeah. Doesn't Totosai also live up there? We could call him. Last I heard he was driving an airport taxi. He might have seen her." Inuyasha sighed.

Sesshomaru wasn't listening but when he caught Kagome's scent, he snarled.

Inuyasha whipped around to look at him. "What?! She may still be alive, I thought you might be happy about something like that."

"I'm thrilled." He said in a deadly sarcastic manner. "Now leave." He demanded.

Inuyasha turned to Kagome and shooed her out of the room to have a word with his brother privately.

As soon as Kagome was out of the room, Sesshomaru breathed in deeply, relieved that her scent was no longer tainting the air.

"What the hell?" Inuyasha growled.

"Your mate is emitting a foul odor. I believe you know what that means, correct?" Sesshomaru stared at his brother blindly.

"Foul odor? I didn't smell anything different about her. No, Sesshomaru, what does it mean?"

"She is carrying your pup, moron. You mean to tell me you didn't know?" Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow.

"Look who's talking" Inuyasha barked before he really heard what Sesshomaru had said. "Sorry, I...didn't mean that." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly while Sesshomaru snarled.

"I suggest you keep her on a short leash, Inuyasha. You see what happens when you don't."

Inuyasha was taken aback at Sesshomaru's remark. He hadn't expected Sesshomaru to compare his situation with Rin to his with Kagome. Inuyasha chuckled inwardly. He was going to be a father! He was going to be a father... Oh god, he knew _nothing_ about being a parent! "Me and Kagome will probably not be back for a while." Inuyasha pursed his lips into a thin line.

"Don't bother. And don't bring her back. I prefer to be able to breathe." Sesshomaru lowered his head back down to its limp position.

Inuyasha nodded and left the room. He found Kagome chatting with Sango by the front entrance of the police station. "Come on Kagome, we're leaving. Now." He ordered.

Kagome nodded and handed a slip of paper with her phone number on it to Sango who smiled and slipped the paper in her pants pocket. "Call me." Kagome beamed.

Inuyasha wasn't sure how much longer he could take Kagome's recent mood swings. First she was so pissed off that she was hyperventilating and then she was crying and then happy as can be all in the course of thirty minutes. Inuyasha sighed and pushed the door open for her to walk through. As soon as he stepped onto the pavement, he reached in his hoodie pocket and pressed the 'unlock' button on his car keys.

Kagome slid into the passenger seat and waited for Inuyasha to turn the car on. "So what happened in there after me and Sango left?" She asked.

"Kagome. I need to tell you something and I really don't want you to freak out." He said seriously.

Her eyes narrowed. "Inuyasha, tell me what?"

Inuyasha roasted his elbow on the console and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and index fingers. "Sesshomaru, he…uhh... He smelled something just before he told you to leave the room."

"Smelled something? On me? Like what?" She asked accusingly.

"You're…ummm... You're sort of... God, how do I say this...?" Inuyasha mumbled.

"Spit it out!" She demanded.

"Kagome, you're sort of...pregnant." Inuyasha smiled crookedly.

Kagome's face went completely pale. "P-pregnant?" She asked in shock. "I-I'm p-p-pregnant." She stated in astonishment. She and Inuyasha hadn't been trying but...the thought of her actually _being_ pregnant scared her. "I…I'm…" Her voice trailed off as she fainted.

Inuyasha looked at her for a moment, then let out an exasperated sigh. "Just great…" He shifted harshly into drive and peeled away.


	5. Chapter 5 Damnation

**A/N: I have changed the title to Roses. Obviously. But it is still the same storyline and plot. I just thought that Runaway as a title for this story gave away too much. Thus, I have changed it to something more insidious. Enjoy. And, please, don't hate me.**

Doctor Suikotsu reclined in his office chair and groaned, happy to have a break from his seemingly endless work. In the past two days, a total of seventeen car crashes had occurred due to the sudden ice and snow. While most of them had not been fatal, the ones that had been were already dead. With the exception of one.

Rini Akoi. She had been by far the worst accident out of them all and had sustained the most amount of injuries. And yet, she had left the hospital that morning almost fully recovered.

The other patients who had sustained lesser injuries would still be in the ICU for at least a week, if not longer, before they could even be moved into regular hospital monitoring rooms.

_How had she done it? _Dr. Suikotsu wondered. _How did she recover so quickly? A genetic mutation perhaps? Is she a demon? Half-demon, maybe?_ He ran his fingers through his greasy hair in frustration and decided he needed a shower. _No. She was definitely human. So then what was the cause of her abnormal healing abilities?_

He leaned forward and swiftly stood from the chair. He left his office and went the the file room where the hospital kept a record of everyone that had come into the ICU in the past six months. He pulled open the second-to-the-top drawer on the second file cabinet and flipped through the name tags until he found the one labeled 'Akoi'.

The doctor pulled the manila folder out that contained all of her stats and unceremoniously shoved it under his arm as he made his way back to his office. He flopped down in his chair and opened the folder, scanning through it quickly for anything he may have missed.

He closed the folder roughly and tossed it on his desk. That was only the basics, her height, weight, etc. What he needed was a blood sample to figure out what he wanted to know. He wondered if he should call her and ask her to come back.

He ultimately decided that he would call her tomorrow and allow her to have at least one day back home before she was summoned to the hospital for testing. Perhaps her amnesia would have regressed some and she could tell him what he wanted to know without him having to take some of her blood. He didn't want to do that; the sight of blood sickened him, if he were to be completely honest.

He was wrenched from his thoughts when he heard a slight knock on the door. "Come in." She sighed.

"Suikotsu-senpai?" The nurse asked.

He looked up to see who had entered his office. "What do you need, Hitomiko?" He asked, resting his elbows on his desk out of boredom.

She fidgeted in the doorway, smoothing out the invisible wrinkles on her uniform. "Kikyo called me and wanted me to tell you she forgot something in the report for a Rini Akoi?" She scrunched up her face, wondering if she had pronounced the name correctly.

Suikotsu instantly shot up from his bored position, suddenly interested in the conversation. "What did she forget?" He asked quickly.

"She said that the patient had a mating mark on her left shoulder." Hitomiko wondered how her longtime friend could be so careless as to forget to write something so important down. _She must have been daydreaming about Naraku, _she concluded. _She's been doing that a lot lately._

"That might explain it." Suikotsu mumbled. He turned away from Hitomiko and stared at the small television in the corner of his office playing its usual news channel. "Thank you, I'll be sure to document that. You can go now." He waved her off.

He sat back down in his chair and opened the folder once more to write down that Rini was apparently mated to a demon. _Mated to a demon... Interesting..._

"A new scandal in the heart of Tokyo has people of all species wondering if Taisho Inc. will continuing their business for much longer. Late yesterday evening, Taisho incorporations current owner was allegedly arrested for the murder of Kagura Onigumo." The snake demoness reporting the current events droned on. "Although allegations have yet to be confirmed, he is currently being held by the local police."

Suikotsu groaned when he heard the name 'Onigumo'. The nurse who had recently transferred here from Tokyo was seeing someone bearing the name, Naraku Onigumo. An ex criminal and half demon turned good by Kikyo's pureness.

Kagura must have really done something to deserve it, if what the news reporters said was true and she really was dead. Higher up demons such as the owner of Taisho Inc. didn't kill needlessly. They knew that if they did, it could jeopardize their position and even their company as a whole. Kagura must have really done something to make him completely disregard his company.

Suikotsu also remembered that Kagura was one of Naraku's oldest adopted children; he had yet to have his own. He had several adopted children that Kikyo would often gossip about during her breaks.

Kagura and her blood sister, Kanna, were both adopted by Naraku along with two infants, one of them being Hakudoshi who began his life of crime at the age of around seven and is yet to be located by the police, and Hakudoshi's blood brother, hokkugo, who died as an infant. Years later, Naraku adopted a teenager by the name of Byakuya, who is believed to be in the company of Hakudoshi, but once again the police have no clue as to their whereabouts.

Suikotsu scanned through Rin's report again to see if the new development would have make any difference.

"However, whereas most of you out there may be thinking Takahashi's actions might have been rash, it has recently come to our knowledge that his mate, Rin Takahashi, has been missing for the past thirteen days. Her whereabouts at the time are unknown. Should anyone have any information regarding where she may be, you are urged to contact your local police department immediately."

Suikotsu grabbed the television remote and turned it off without taking his attention off Rin's folder. He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that hour and rubbed the back of his neck and massaging his overworked muscles. He decided he would call Kikyo to ask why she would have forgotten to write down Rin had a mating mark in the report.

He picked up his office phone and dialed her cell phone number.

"Hello?" Kikyo's voice cracked over the phone and loud music could be heard in the background.

"It's me." Suikotsu tapped his finger against his desk impatiently.

"Oh, Suikotsu-sama. Did Hitomiko tell you...?" She asked and winced internally.

Suikotsu sighed again. "Kikyo..._how_ did you forget to write down that she had a mating mark?!" He asked as kindly as he could manage.

"I-I don't know... It must have slipped my mind." She forced herself to chuckle nervously to do nothing if not lighten the mood. "It's not like it changes anything, right?"

"Fortunately for you, no." He paused.

"But?" She asked.

"_But_, it doesn't explain how she healed so quickly. It has been bugging me ever since she left this morning and I have yet to come up with an answer." He tapped his foot against the hard tile of the floor.

"She left? With who?" Kikyo's eyes widened.

"The person who brought her in. Kohaku, I believe his name was. Why?" He ceased his tapping.

"Oh, nononononononono!" She shook her head frantically and received a confused glance from Naraku. She smiled to reassure him that everything was alright and he turned his attention back to the road.

"What?" Suikotsu asked urgently.

"If she had a mating mark, that means she has a mate."

"Obviously."

"If you sent her home with a male and her mate is waiting for her at her house, he'll be dead for sure!" She said worriedly.

"I haven't received any calls nor have we had him come in with any injuries." Suikotsu said more to himself than to Kikyo.

"Well if he's not dead already, I suggest you call him and get him out of there as soon as possible. If her mate was not there already, he is sure to be on his way."

"Alright, I'll call him. It's been about four hours since she went home though. Wouldn't that be more than enough time for her mate to have gotten to her?"

"Yeah. You better hurry. Demon mates can be extremely overprotective if their mate was hurt in any way. Especially if he was an animalistic demon." She added quickly before she hung up.

"Animalistic, huh? Well shit." He whispered to himself. Suikotsu swiftly jogged out of his office and to the front desk. "Can I have the number for Kohaku Itio?" He asked the receptionist.

She nodded her head and typed on her computer so fast that he couldn't keep up. She printed a piece of paper with his name and phone number and handed it to the doctor.

Suikotsu walked out the front door and pulled his cell phone out of his pants pocket and dialed the number on the paper. He put the phone to his ear and waited.

**...**

Rin maneuvered herself out of her wheelchair and onto her bed with the intent of going to sleep. She flopped down on the mattress and inhaled deeply, blissfully ignorant of who she was and who might be looking for her. She sat up and looked around her room.

Ever since Kohaku brought her home a few hours ago she had been looking around the house to see if it would make her remember anything. Although, the house was void of anything that you might find in someone's home. A house, yes, but a home...

There were no pictures of any kind, no decoration, nothing to signify that someone might live there. It was creepy how empty the house was. Did she even really live there? Had the doctor sent her home to the wrong house?

She sighed as her eyes landed on the bedside table with a closed laptop sitting on it. She reached for the computer and placed in front of her. She opened it and pressed the power button and waited for it to come on. When it did, it immediately asked for a password.

She grunted. How was she supposed to know the password? She looked out her window and typed in the first thing she saw, _snow_. The computer gave her a pop-up saying it was an incorrect password.

She paused again, thinking of what it could be. She typed.

_Flowers._

Incorrect password.

_Butterfly_

Incorrect password.

She sighed. She was never going to remember something like this. But, she decided she wanted to get into her laptop. Maybe it might even help her remember who she was.

_Love._

Incorrect password.

_Chocolate._

This time a different pop-up appeared. It read: Incorrect password. Would you like a hint?

She immediately pressed the yes button.

A picture of her sitting on a bench with a thick, white pelt of fur draped around her appeared and she nearly choked on her own saliva.

It was dark all around her but an orange, almost warm, light seemed to be coming from somewhere behind her. The moment seemed to be captured perfectly as she was laughing and had her eyes squeezed shut from the wide smile that plastered her face. She was wearing a pale green shirt tucked neatly under a brown leather jacket with seemingly skin tight jeans and brown sandals strapped to her feet. Her arms cradled the white boa that appeared to be, much to her unsettling, curling around her as if it were alive.

Was that her? She looked so happy. Where was she? Who took the picture? What was that she had around her? Her mind was racing a million miles an hour but only a few seconds after the picture appeared, it vanished and was back at the password screen.

Was that the hint? What did it mean? She typed in the first thing about the picture that came to her mind.

_Happy._

Incorrect password.

_Park._

Incorrect password.

_Fur._

Incorrect password.

She cursed herself wondering what it could possibly be. She closed the laptop and returned it to its place on the bedside table and flopped back on her bed, all the while furiously grabbing at the covers. Kami, it was freezing! Did this house not have heat?!

She closed her eyes and reveled in the warmth the covers provided. Within moments, sleep consumed her.

**Meanwhile...**

Downstairs, Kohaku positioned himself on the couch to be as comfy as possible while he flipped through the channels searching for a suitable program to watch. He settled for _Ridiculousness _on MTV.

_At least this place has cable and free Wi-Fi. Can't be all that bad if you're living alone..._, Kohaku thought absentmindedly. He turned to volume down as far as he could as he was mindful of Rin sleeping, but loud enough so he could hear it.

He stayed in that position for fifteen minutes without moving so much as an inch. He nearly jumped out of his skin when his phone, which was sitting on the coffee table between him and the fire place, suddenly started blaring _Cruise_.

"Shit!" He jumped off the couch, abandoning his warm imprint and grabed hold of the violently vibrating and loudly disturbing phone.

"Hello?" He answers, raising it to his ear.

"May I speak with Kohaku Itio?" A gruff yet gentle voice asked.

"This is he. Who am I speaking with?" Kohaku once again found his place on Rin's couch and slowly retracted within the warmth of the cutions.

The slight sound of a relieved sigh came from the phone and into Kohaku's ear. "I see." It said seriously. "Well it is somewhat of a relief to me that you are not dead..."

"Why would I be...?" Kohaku shivered involuntarily. He pursed his lips into a thin line and narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Listen, I don't know who you are but-"

"I am Rini's doctor. My name is Suikotsu." He explained while tapping his finger against the armrest of his chair impatiently.

"If you're Rini's doctor...wouldn't you be calling to check up how she's doing...? Not the person who took her home?" Kohaku asked skeptically.

"In normal circumstances, yes. Unfortunately, these are not normal." He sighed.

"Meaning...?" Kohaku prompted.

"Meaning you, if not already then any moment now, should and will be dead if you do not leave Rini immediately." Suikotsu grimaced.

Kohaku paused, wondering what the hell the doctor ment. Why would he die if he didn't leave Rini? It seemed the opposite was more likely to occur.

Instead of allowing Kohaku to answer, Suikotsu spoke up. "I was informed this morning by one of the nurses that was looking after Rini during her...visit here that she carries a mating mark on her left shoulder." He paused and pursed his lips into a thin line. "I was expecting her mate to have returned to her by now and you to be...well..."

"Dead." Kohaku finished. "Well, I'm not, sooo... What does that mean? Her _mate_hasn't "come to kill me" or nothing like that." Kohaku's eyes shot back and forth as he had a skeptical look plastered to his face.

Upon hearing the tone in Kohaku's voice, Suikotsu's grimace only deepened, if that was possible. He needed him to understand that his life was in danger. That he could very possibly die if her mate was to return now. That, because she was injured and her mate appeared to be animalistic, he would not hesitate to kill any males that approached her in her state. "I do not wish for you to be harmed in any way and that is why I implore that you leave her a soon as possible."

Kohaku sighed. He didn't want to leave her. He wanted to stay and help her. Possibly get to know her so that they might form some sort of relationship. As messed up at it seemed, Kohaku wanted to make the best of the situation. It's not like he rescues a beautiful girl from a car crash every day. But her having a mate... That was like shooting bullets through his plans. "I understand your concern but...I don't know how I feel about just leaving her. I mean, she doesn't even know who she is."

"Yes, that is expected. But regardless of your intentions towards her, her mate, when he returns, will not hesitate to kill you." He said seriously. "I know that you want to help her get her memory back but I am positive that her mate will be more than capable than helping her with that."

Kohaku inhaled deeply and released his breath, contemplating what he should do. Should he stay and risk his life just to reassure himself that she would be alright? Or should he be selfish and leave her in her condition?

"Please." Suikotsu asked one final time hoping to persuade him to leave her, though he doubted it would work.

"Fine." Kohaku said grudgingly. He didn't like the idea of leaving her, but what choice did he have? He didn't want to end up some corpse in the morgue that was so horribly mangled and beaten they couldn't even tell his facial features apart. No, he didn't want that. So, he would leave. If only for a little while.

Relieved, Suikotsu ceased his tapping in slight shock but quickly brushed the feeling off. "Thank you for understanding." He said awkwardly. Now that Kohaku agreed to leaving her, there was nothing left for them to bicker about so he quickly ended the call by gently placing his phone down one the holder.

Kohaku heard the line go dead and quickly pressed the off button on his phone and returned it to its place on the coffee table. He leaned his head back on the couch and closed his eyes. "A mating mark, hu?" He mumbled to himself. _How could she have a mating mark? To a __**demon?!**_Sweet Rini bonded to a monster. The notion seemed ridiculous to him.

He stared at the crackling fire, lost in thought. When he looked up, the show he had been watching was ending and rapidly heading into commercials. He stood from his spot on the couch and stretched, his muscles twitching from nearly an hour of not being used. He looked from his left and then to his right and then back once more.

"What the hell am I doing? I'm not in some movie, so what the hell am I so paranoid about?" _Oh right,_ he thought. _Some demon is supposed to be coming to kill me and run away with Rin in his arms. Right._

He turned to his left and started walking toward the stairs with the intent of seeing what the doctor said was ture.

_She couldn't!_ He swiftly went up the stairs, his hand sliding on the polished railing.

_She couldn't! _He chanted in his head like a mantra. He stopped in front of her door and grabbed the knob slowly. He may have been doing something that may or may not be deemed inapproiate but he still had the decency to be quiet.

_He had to be lying. He must!_ He slowly opened the door and prayed it didn't make any noise that might disturbe her sleep. He crept over the softly carpeted floor until his lean frame was looming over her small form; the curve of her breasts rising and falling rythmically with her breath. Oh, the things he would do to her body...

He scrunched his face together and shook his head back and forth in an attempt to rid his mind of the vile thoughts that entered his mind. It was sick. She was still recovering from the accident and, moreover, he didn't know her. How could her when she didn't even know herself?

He hesitatntly reached over her and abruptly stopped his hand and inch away when a clump of snow fell onto the roof and produced a soft yet startling thud. He grimaced and silently prayed she wouldn't awake when he heard a soft moan escape her lips.

She arched her back and rolled onto her right side, facing away from him, her facial feature relaxing from almost being awoken. If she would have woken up at that moment, Kohaku might have ended up in the hospital.

After what felt like five full minutes to Kohaku, when he finally felt it safe to procede, he gently brushed his fingertips over the covers that hid her right shoulder from him; from the world. He slowly slid the covers an inch away from that spot and once again raised his hand to the colar of her sweater and repeated the process until all that remained was a thin layer of cotton that made up the shoulder portion of the hospital gown she had worn home. He squeezed his eyes shut as he slit it too, down her shoulder to reveal her milky white skin. He opened one eye first and then the other just to see if his left eye deceved him. But alas, no, his eyes did not decieve. For there, covering the nape of her neck, was a bite scar that forever claimed her as a demon's mate.

This proved to him that his life was in danger. That he needed to leave. That he _needed_ to never come back. But would he? Could he possibly? He brushed his fingertips over the scar lightly, causing her to all but cringe.

He returned the articles of fabric to their correct places on her shoulder and covered it with the white sheet followed by the creamy brown quilt. He tucked it under her left shoulder in between the bed and her warm body to ensure it wouldn't slip free and expose her flesh to the cold air. He stealthy slid out of the room and softly shut the door behind him.

He walked down the stairs in a daze and gathered his things. A moment before he stepped out the door he decided he would leave a note for her to find when she woke up. He grapped the notepad and pen resting on the dresser beside the door and wrote:

_ Rini,_

_ The snow stopped so I decided to leave. Call me if you need anything_

_ -Kohaku_

He walked back up the stairs and slid the note under her door. When he returned back downstairs, he grabbed his phone off the coffee table and turned off the T.V. He wondered if he should put out the fire. He decided he would after he looked around for a moment and found a tempature control panel. He turned the dial to 76 degrees and put out the fire.

He closed the front door and locked it behind him. He looked around and noted that the snowfall had almost completely stopped. When he wrote in the note for Rini that the snow had stopped, it was an excuse to get her to believe that he had no reason to stay, not that he needed to stay lest he want to become a body in the morgue.

He opened the door to his truck and numbly climbed in, shoving the key into the ignition and turning. He glared at the house.

"Who the hell are you...?"

**...**

Sesshomaru was sure of it. He felt something. Something deep in his bones. Something from Rin. That was the only explination. And yet it confused him beyond comprehension.

Rin was a smary, savvy woman who knew how to block her emotions from him when she needed to. But he could always feel her there. Somewhere deep in his soul. But ever since a week ago, just before Kagura showed up at his house, he had felt nothing. No saddness coming from Rin. It was as if she no longer existed.

But that can't just happen. If Rin had died, he would have felt it. His demon would not let something like that go unnoticed. So that left him with no plausible answer. What had happened to Rin? She wasn't dead, but he aslo couldn't feel her. It made no sence.

He had felt noting from her in a week and with each passing day, it drove him closer to the edge. But now, during one of his more pensive moments, he felt something.

He didn't know what to think. Should he be overjoyed that at the very least she wasn't dead? Or worried becaues what he felt was pain. Extreme, unbearable, excrushieating, pain. Not phyical pain, but a deep, soul agonizing pain.

He almost doubled over in his cell. Instead, he stumbled backwards onto the messed up bed and gripped his head as if it were about to explode. He dug his claws into his scalp and locked his jaw tightly.

None of the gaurds seemed to notice, and for Sesshomaru, that was better than convienient. He didn't want anyone to see him in this condition. It was pathetic, though he could not ignore the memory that accompanied this sudden wave of emotions. He leaned back on the gray brick wall behind him and succumbed to the memory that flashed in his eyes.

**...**

_ Why was he even doing this? Sesshomaru Takahashi would do a number of things to move up the corprate ladder, but this? Was this withing his boundaries of how far he would go? To be honest, he wasn't sure. Did that irritate him? Yeah. Anyone who came within ten feet of him could feel the irritation pouring off of him in waves._

_ Inuyasha had decided to have a cook out to build relationships in the office, though, when he invited Sesshomaru, saying that a lot of "high end" buisnessmen were going to be attending, Inuyasha didn't really give him time to answer before her was spouting out names and dates and numbers and for some reason, how much Gucci shoes cost, Sesshomaru had smacked him in the face and said he would go If he would shut up._

_ So basically, he was forced into coming. He didn't like cookouts, but if it meant getting on the good side with some of the buisnessmen he eventually wanted to make buisness deals with, then so be it; he would endure the "social get-together"._

_ Sesshomaru decided he would take a walk to get away from the insufferable chatter and annoying giggles of the women trying to get his attention. He walked on all the paved pathways in the park contemplating what he would to say to these buisneaamen when he saw them. What coud he do to get them to want to make a deal with Taisho Inc.? It probably wouldn't be that hard; Taisho Inc. has one of the best reputations in the buisness world and had impeccable sales increase in the past six months that didn't seem to be plumeting any time soon. So he figured he wouldn't have to say anything really, to his delight. He would simply have to be present to appear sociable._

_ He reached the entrance of the park Inuyasha had chosen for the cook-out and decided he would get something to drink from the cafe accross the street. The only drinks provided where he had come from were carbonated and served in a can inside a cooler of partially melted ice._

_ A few people momentarily hesitated their walking when they spotted him, Sesshomaru Takahashi, walking in this part of the city; in which he was less than surprised by. He seldom came to this side of Tokyo and when he did, it was on important buisness such as meeting and even once a luncheon with a few buisness partners of the companies. In only which one he took a liking to._

_ He turned right and walked down the sidewalk until he was directly across the road __from the caf__é. Continuing his brisk stride, he stepped out into the street without a second glance at the traffic, but being the daiyoukai he is, he neednt concern himself with the traffic. They would simply stop and wait for him to cross, as did several as he passed them; the cars seemed to stop a few meters away from him and vibrate as if they were frightened of him. Inanimate objects frightened of him. The idea amused him._

_ He was nearly across the road when he heard a car coming toward his path at a steady speed with no indication of slowing. He decided he would let the car pass before he continued to the other side of the street. He then noted that another person had walked out into the street. Perhaps they thought there was a red light and that was why the cars were stopped. However, if they continued, they would be hit by the oncoming car._

_ So, for some unknown reason, he decided he would step into the path of the car before it had a chance to hit them. At first, the pace he was going seemed like it would be fast enough to intercept the lime green BMW, but when he saw them step into its path, he heard the car accelerate._

_ He ran forwards, miliseconds before the car smashed into the unsuspecting person, and tackled them to the ground; loud music physically shook the ground they layed on as the car zoomed past. _

_ Sesshomaru, now thoroughly angered and in no mood for any type of drink, lifted himself up on his elbows and looked down and regarded the figure beneath him. His gaze was met with chocolate brown eyes and blazing red cheeks. Only then did he realize he was on top of a woman. A _human_ woman._

_ The car screeched to a halt a moment later only a few paces away from where Sesshomaru was swiftly standing up and offering his hand to the madly blushing woman. It was a subconcious gesture and he didn't think much of it. _

_ A man with dark brown hair and a scragy, unkept beard stepped out of his car and took a few steps toward where Sesshomaru and the woman stood before stopping when he caught a glimpse of Sesshomaru's menacing glare, daring him to come closer._

_ Sesshomaru could practically feel the girl staring at him. Instead of turning to look at her, he took three long strides forward and grabbed the man by the collar and forced him back against his car._

_ By then, a small crowd of people had gathered and were watching intently, some openly gaping at the scene, some taking pictures, and some on the phone most likely calling the authorities about the "almost" accident._

_ He snarled at the man he held firmly against his car. "Do you have _any idea_ what you could have just done?" He shouted, not caring at his open display of anger._

_ The man without a name wimpered and begged for forgivness. "Please, sir. Please let me go. I-I wasn't looking where I was going and-and she j-just walked out into the road!" _

_ Sesshomaru glared at him, silently daring him to accuse the woman it was her fault. Would it have been her fault if she ended up in the hospital? If she ended up dead? He decided not to let his mind wander there since the said woman was clinging to his right arm, attempting to pry him off the man, and failing miserably._

_ "Stop! Please stop!" She begged, her eyes looking at him pleadingly. "I'm alright, so please let him go. It was a mistake." She said in place of the man who was now trembling._

_ Sesshomaru obeyed no one and nothing except himself. He did what he wanted to do and that was final. No one could sway his decision once it was set and nothing could change it except himself. So why did he feel almost _compelled_ to obey the frail being? Was it because the innocence that shown through her eyes or the pleading tone in her voice?_

_ He didn't know, and quite possibly never will, why he released the man. Why he stepped back and stared at the human woman for a moment longer than he would any other before turning and leaving without a word. He growled at himself. How could he possibly let himself be taking orders from another being? No. Not taking orders. That wasn't the right word. Complying. Yes. That sounded more like what he had done. Why had he _complied _to her wishes? Even worse, to a human. A human woman. _

_ He despised humans. And perhaps even more so, female humans. Thay had no dominance, no strength. She had only proved his point when she failed at pulling him off the man. A man... He had been weaker than her. At least she had the oudacity to stand up to him when he was very nearly about to kill the man._

_ So many thoughts ran thorough his head as he walked swiftly down the sidewalk away from that acursed park Inuyasha was holding the event at. Why did he listen to her? Bend to her will. Why did he save he in the first place? Why didn't he just stand back and watch as car smashed her? Listen to the sound of her bonse shatter when the car made inpact. Smell her blood seep from her veins as she layed on the pavement and watch it drip down the lime green pain of the car as the only reminder she had been hit by the car._

_ The thoughts seemed appealing to him until he thought of her face as the one attached to the body laying on cold and dead on the ground. Her big, brown eyes frozen open in terror and her mouth slightly agape in a forever silent scream. _

_ His face twisted in disgust. He felt like he wanted to hurl the contents of his stomach into the nearest trash can, which was convieniently only a few strides away beside a blossoming Sakura tree. He snorted at the idea as he continued past it._

_ He pulled out his phone and sent a quick message to Inuyasha telling him something came up and he couldn't be at the "event". Sesshomaru sighed as he turned his phone off and slid it back in his pants pocket. He could not wait to get home._

_**...**_

Rin bolted upright in her bed only to be greated with a slight pain in her right leg. But that was nothing compared to the splitting headace she was experiencing at the moment. Her hands snaked up her body slowly checking to see if she was all there before she gripped her head with both hands and applied pressure to her temples and squeezed her eyes shut trying to discern what the hell she had just dreamed.

After the initial pain of the headace subsided, she returned her hands to her sides; her left hand subconciously reached for someone beside her. Upon finding no one laying beside her, she turned to her left and looked over the pillow and sheets that remained untouched. She felt a sudden sadness.

She closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. Who was she expecting to be there? It was more like something she felt and less like a thought, but it felt like she was expecting it to be empty. Expecting no one to be beside her. But a small spark of hope deep in her bones moved her hand to reach for him. Who ever _he_ was.

That dream... What was it? It felt too real to be just a dream. So... Was it a memory? Something was off. It wasn't her memory. All those feelings... Every thought. It wasn't her. She had tackled that person that almost got hit by the car and felt the anger fuled adrenelin coarsing through her veins when the man was pinned against the car, and the uncertain feeling and thought passing through her mind as she walked down the sidewalk in some city that seemed familiar but just beyond reach.

But... It was her who she tackled from getting hit by the car. It wasn't her hand holding the man by the collar. Thoes were a man's hands. With...claws... That made no sence. Was he a demon? The one whose memory she dreamed of.

Or was it completely a dream? Nothing but her already confused brain creating illusions as she slept. That had to be it.

But the feelings... It felt too real to just be a dream. She touched her cheeks thinking of the way she was blushing. She moved her legs to the side of the bed and took the cast off. She bent her legs at the knees and flexed her toes. She felt normal. No pain. Nothing. She decided to push her luck and stand, using the bedside table for support.

Fine. In the amount of time from her falling asleep to now waking up, her legs had completely healed. Who the hell was she and why was she healing so quickly? Even if she couldn't remember anything from her past, she still knew healing that fast was not normal.

She walked into the bathroom and fliched the light swich upwards. A row of four bulbs were directly above her colossal mirror above the porcilin sink.

She leaned in close to the mirror and stared into her eyes, trying to get the same feeling she felt in the dream. _Innocent...?_ Her eyes looked dull and worn, like a shirt that's been worn too many times. Her cheeks weren't rosy and glowing like in her dream. They were shiny with skin oil and vaguely reminded her of the color grey. Her hair was a mess and she had bags under her eyes.

She decided the girl in her dream was not her. The innocence...the glow...was gone. Her eyes held nothing that could be referred to as pure or innocent. They looked dull and lifeless. Who ever that girl in her dream was, was not her.

Not by a longshot.

**A/N: Alright, I know it's been a while, but have a little faith in me. I shall try to never abandon a story due to my OCD about people who start a really good story and they just sort of quit just when it got good. **

**I promise I won't do that.**

**I made this chapter extra long to accomidate for the long wait. I hope this satisfies you for a little while at least.**

**On a side note, I read a Fic called Forget Me Not by tullie and had a temporary major writers block for this story. Even though that story is sort of like mine, I honestly thought it would help but instead it completely erased my mind on where this story was going. But i'm back now and ready to continue writing.**

**If you like suggestions for Fic's to read, you can look that one up (Forget Me Not by tullie). It is amazingly written and terribly angst filled. So if you are planning on reading that one, you have been warned. Even if you don't usualy cry at sad moments in movies or books, you are highly likely to cry reading that one. Oh, the angst! **

**My friend, .me.09 , beggs me to write a spin-off Fic about what happens to Rin in New York (read the story to find out) but I'm not sure if that is within copyright laws...soooo...yeah...**

**A lovely thanks to all who reviewed my last few chapters. Now... I don't usualy beg for reviews but... To hell with it! Hit me with yo' best shot! ^.^**


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